E-Hoaxes and webrumors
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
If you have Email, it is virtually guaranteed that either you already have or soon will, receive an Internet Hoax Email. Call them what you will, E-Hoaxes, E-Rumors, Urban Legends or Chain Letters, they all amount to the same thing, junk and a waste of time. Fortunately there are numerous websites now devoted to exposing and eradicating these fraudulent bits and bytes of electronic refuse.
Some of the most common E-Hoaxes promise the reader money, some other form of reward or that money will be donated to some worthy cause for every person it is forwarded to. However, as of this date and time, there is no simple, sure fire or even reliable method that exists for backtracking an Email's course through the Internet. So there is absolutely no good reason for forwarding those on at all.
Other E-Hoaxes are filled with dire warnings and tell the reader to act immediately, use extreme caution for a specific reason or even to avoid whatever the topic is altogether. One very common and currently circulating E-Hoax concerns Canola Oil and claims that it is actually a highly dangerous product and toxic to Humans, Animals and Insects. It also purports that Canola Oil is directly responsible for the massive outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in England. However, the simple truth of the matter has shown these claims to be utterly false in independent scientific research studies. Canola is actually healthier for most people than any other current form of cooking oil. As to what caused Mad Cow Disease in England, that's a matter of record and nowhere in there is Canola Oil mentioned as a possible cause.
Yet another E-Hoax insists that if you forward on an Email to a certain number of people it will run some sort of cute animated clip or do something else. As of now, no Email program has the capability to do that. It would require tracking exactly how, when and where all Email's were forwarded to and as stated earlier, that can't be done as of yet.
One of the most persistent and common of all E-Hoaxes is the virus warning. These range from the absurd to the unfortunately true. While it IS impossible to encode a virus into an Email, it is relatively simple to encode a virus into a file ATTACHED to an Email. This also depends on the type of file itself. Image and picture files are safe in and of themselves. Where people most often run into trouble is when they open what they think is a picture attached to an Email, when in fact it isn't. As in the case of the well known Anna Kournikova virus. The problem was the file attached to the Email was called annakournikova.jpg.vbs, that VBS at the end means this file is a Visual Basic Script (a program) NOT a picture.
An Email without a file attached to it CANNOT be infected by any known virus at present. The best rule of thumb for dealing with Email with or without attachments is this: If you don't know who sent it, where it came from or have never heard of the company that sent it, DELETE IT UNOPENED. If an Email remains unopened, even if there is a virus in the file attached to it, it will not and cannot affect your computer. While this seems ridiculously simple to do, one cannot believe how often this is not done. Ask your local network administrator at work if you want confirmation of this. Another very good article that is more in-depth on the topic of Email viruses is http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A354638 by Colonel Sellers.
Most E-Hoaxes have several things in common. Once this is realized, they are more easily spotted, the next time you come across one. Each E-Hoax has its own unique "flavor" to it, but all usually lack easily verifiable, solid first-hand information. Instead they are what Urban Legend expert Dr. Jan H. Brunvand refers to as a "friend of a friend" type story.
They also nearly always lack what makes for good informational reporting, the five W's. (Who, What, When, Where and Why) They nearly always contain the How portion, but any Email claiming to be a warning or to have important information that doesn't answer those five questions clearly should be viewed with definite suspicion.
Even on the rare occasion when an E-Hoax does include specific details, they are most often distorted versions of the truth, incorrect or flat out made up. The following erumor regarding the U.S. Congress is an excellent example.
_______________________________________________
Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:
*29 have been accused of spousal abuse
*7 have been arrested for fraud
*19 have been accused of writing bad checks
*117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
*3 have done time for assault
*71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
*14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
*8 have been arrested for shoplifting
*21 are defendants in lawsuits
*84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year Can you guess which organization this is?
GIVE UP YET?????
IT IS THE 535 MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS. The same group of Idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line. You gotta pass this one on!
_______________________________________________
This erumor is misleading in more ways than one. Although this doesn't say it, the statistics come from a series of articles written by the website of CAPITOL HILL BLUE (www.chblue.com). The article also covers both present AND past members of Congress, though the way it's written makes it appear as if the stats apply to the current Congress. This was written by Capitol Hill Blue editor Jack Sharp, researcher Marilyn Crosslyn, and private Investigator James Hargill. In the articles every instance of wrongdoing isn't revealed or documented, but they do claim to have them.
If you take into account that the U.S. Congress is one of the oldest legislative branches in the United States and has been around in excess of 225 years, these statistics suddenly take on a different appearance. One must also take into account that no names are named as to who is purportedly guilty of having done what. One individual could possibly be responsible for more than 10 separate offenses and could have died more than 150 years ago. There's no way of telling with the information that's been given.
Most E-hoaxes have several things in common. They lack good, solid, first-hand information. They usually talk about something unique enough and out of the ordinary so that it's worth retelling or passing on. They can talk about things that inspire fear, loathing or revulsion that will prompt us to act. They might deal with confirming our prejudices or fears in an "I told you so!" manner. Most of them have details or portions of the story that just don't make sense in one-way or another. They may try and make you feel guilty if you don't forward the message on. Some promise money or other rewards for forwarding them and some of them have just been around for so long, that they're now common knowledge and therefore considered true.
There are numerous websites dedicated to exposing E-Hoaxes, the following are just a few and one's the author used as reference material.
http://www.truthorfiction.com
(The author's personal favorite site, has the most extensive list of E-Hoaxes and web-rumors.)
http://www.miningco.com
(A public with website with numerous good links)
http://www.ulrc.com.au
(The Urban Legends Research Centre)
http://www.hoaxkill.com
(Privately run site, has a decent humor section also.)
http://www.nmia.com/~lhxavier/hoaxes.htm
(Privately run site, has a good list of related links.)
Some of the most common E-Hoaxes promise the reader money, some other form of reward or that money will be donated to some worthy cause for every person it is forwarded to. However, as of this date and time, there is no simple, sure fire or even reliable method that exists for backtracking an Email's course through the Internet. So there is absolutely no good reason for forwarding those on at all.
Other E-Hoaxes are filled with dire warnings and tell the reader to act immediately, use extreme caution for a specific reason or even to avoid whatever the topic is altogether. One very common and currently circulating E-Hoax concerns Canola Oil and claims that it is actually a highly dangerous product and toxic to Humans, Animals and Insects. It also purports that Canola Oil is directly responsible for the massive outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in England. However, the simple truth of the matter has shown these claims to be utterly false in independent scientific research studies. Canola is actually healthier for most people than any other current form of cooking oil. As to what caused Mad Cow Disease in England, that's a matter of record and nowhere in there is Canola Oil mentioned as a possible cause.
Yet another E-Hoax insists that if you forward on an Email to a certain number of people it will run some sort of cute animated clip or do something else. As of now, no Email program has the capability to do that. It would require tracking exactly how, when and where all Email's were forwarded to and as stated earlier, that can't be done as of yet.
One of the most persistent and common of all E-Hoaxes is the virus warning. These range from the absurd to the unfortunately true. While it IS impossible to encode a virus into an Email, it is relatively simple to encode a virus into a file ATTACHED to an Email. This also depends on the type of file itself. Image and picture files are safe in and of themselves. Where people most often run into trouble is when they open what they think is a picture attached to an Email, when in fact it isn't. As in the case of the well known Anna Kournikova virus. The problem was the file attached to the Email was called annakournikova.jpg.vbs, that VBS at the end means this file is a Visual Basic Script (a program) NOT a picture.
An Email without a file attached to it CANNOT be infected by any known virus at present. The best rule of thumb for dealing with Email with or without attachments is this: If you don't know who sent it, where it came from or have never heard of the company that sent it, DELETE IT UNOPENED. If an Email remains unopened, even if there is a virus in the file attached to it, it will not and cannot affect your computer. While this seems ridiculously simple to do, one cannot believe how often this is not done. Ask your local network administrator at work if you want confirmation of this. Another very good article that is more in-depth on the topic of Email viruses is http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A354638 by Colonel Sellers.
Most E-Hoaxes have several things in common. Once this is realized, they are more easily spotted, the next time you come across one. Each E-Hoax has its own unique "flavor" to it, but all usually lack easily verifiable, solid first-hand information. Instead they are what Urban Legend expert Dr. Jan H. Brunvand refers to as a "friend of a friend" type story.
They also nearly always lack what makes for good informational reporting, the five W's. (Who, What, When, Where and Why) They nearly always contain the How portion, but any Email claiming to be a warning or to have important information that doesn't answer those five questions clearly should be viewed with definite suspicion.
Even on the rare occasion when an E-Hoax does include specific details, they are most often distorted versions of the truth, incorrect or flat out made up. The following erumor regarding the U.S. Congress is an excellent example.
_______________________________________________
Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:
*29 have been accused of spousal abuse
*7 have been arrested for fraud
*19 have been accused of writing bad checks
*117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
*3 have done time for assault
*71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
*14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
*8 have been arrested for shoplifting
*21 are defendants in lawsuits
*84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year Can you guess which organization this is?
GIVE UP YET?????
IT IS THE 535 MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS. The same group of Idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line. You gotta pass this one on!
_______________________________________________
This erumor is misleading in more ways than one. Although this doesn't say it, the statistics come from a series of articles written by the website of CAPITOL HILL BLUE (www.chblue.com). The article also covers both present AND past members of Congress, though the way it's written makes it appear as if the stats apply to the current Congress. This was written by Capitol Hill Blue editor Jack Sharp, researcher Marilyn Crosslyn, and private Investigator James Hargill. In the articles every instance of wrongdoing isn't revealed or documented, but they do claim to have them.
If you take into account that the U.S. Congress is one of the oldest legislative branches in the United States and has been around in excess of 225 years, these statistics suddenly take on a different appearance. One must also take into account that no names are named as to who is purportedly guilty of having done what. One individual could possibly be responsible for more than 10 separate offenses and could have died more than 150 years ago. There's no way of telling with the information that's been given.
Most E-hoaxes have several things in common. They lack good, solid, first-hand information. They usually talk about something unique enough and out of the ordinary so that it's worth retelling or passing on. They can talk about things that inspire fear, loathing or revulsion that will prompt us to act. They might deal with confirming our prejudices or fears in an "I told you so!" manner. Most of them have details or portions of the story that just don't make sense in one-way or another. They may try and make you feel guilty if you don't forward the message on. Some promise money or other rewards for forwarding them and some of them have just been around for so long, that they're now common knowledge and therefore considered true.
There are numerous websites dedicated to exposing E-Hoaxes, the following are just a few and one's the author used as reference material.
http://www.truthorfiction.com
(The author's personal favorite site, has the most extensive list of E-Hoaxes and web-rumors.)
http://www.miningco.com
(A public with website with numerous good links)
http://www.ulrc.com.au
(The Urban Legends Research Centre)
http://www.hoaxkill.com
(Privately run site, has a decent humor section also.)
http://www.nmia.com/~lhxavier/hoaxes.htm
(Privately run site, has a good list of related links.)
