We all receive them. Warnings, Alerts and Requests. They fill our inbox, designed to cause us to hysterically and involuntarily hit forward, sending the message to everyone in our address book without ever stopping for a moment to discern if the information we are passing along is true and accurate. Well, if it has an official tone or name attached to it, it must be legitimate. Right? Wrong.
The Internet has brought us the convenience of instant communication. News comes to us in a flash. But along with that technology comes cyberjunk. What used to fill our mailboxes from the post office, now invades our inboxes. And much of the time the information is designed to waste our valuable time. Quick simply, there are people who have way too much time on their hands and create these messages just to see how far and how long they will travel.
What classifies as a hoax or scam?
- A warning of a new virus that you should send on to everyone you know.
- A warning of a scam that you should send on to everyone you know.
- A petition to help the needy or some cause that wants you to forward it on to those who might be interested.
- A get-rich-quick scheme that claims if you forward on the message you’ll receive money for each time it’s forwarded.
- A claim that for each email sent someone in need will be helped by another organization.
Before you forward another message to someone, stop and think for a moment. Let common sense dictate first. Do you really think that Bill Gates has the ability to know whether or not you have forwarded a message to someone in order to give you money? And just because it’s signed The State Department, doesn’t mean it actually came from there.
As a journalist, there is a code of ethics that I must live by; “verify your sources.” I don’t quote anything to anyone unless I have researched the item through three different sources and found the information to be consistent. This effort assures me and my readers that the information that I am passing along to them is legitimate and relatively accurate.
With cyberjunk, I advise people to CHECK THE SOURCE. There are several excellent resource sites whose sole purpose is to confirm, validate and debunk much of the false information that floods our inboxes. Here they are. Use them. Share them. And, please, don’t forward another message until you know it’s legitimate. Your effort saves everyone valuable time, money and bandwidth.
Hoaxes, Urban Legends, Chain Messages, Petitions, etc.
Snopes
http://www.snopes.com/
Urban Legends
http://www.urbanlegends.com/
Hoax Slayers
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/
Museum of Hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/
Viruses and Warnings
McAfee Threat Center
http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/default.asp
Symantec
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/
