h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just received an e-mail, that apparently originates from a little boy dying of lunch cancer from secondary smoke, as well as a large tumor in his brain from repeated beatings. The Make A Wish Foundation will apparently donate 7 cents for every name on the list. Acting on cynicism, I'm assuming this is a fake, moreso because of the "if you pass it on, thank you, if you don't, what comes around goes around" type of thing.

Is there a reliable regularly updated website that keeps a eye on these things, so I can check for official word that each one of these is a hoax as and when I receive them?

It's a hoax, and a pretty stupid one at that.
[URL removed by moderator] is one source of hoax list, although there are many...

Here's another site to verify if it is a hoax or not.

http://www.snopes.com/

Mostly

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Very good - I copied it and forwarded it to 2-25 complete strangers, just in case

Now, how many people am I supposed to forward it to to stop my non-existent nuts being removed?

It depends on wether you want them to exist or not.

All such letters mysteriously vanish from my mailbox soon after coming into it. Mostly even if I wanted to forward them (which has never happened) they say more closest friends to send it to than I actually have. So it's really rather stupid.

And I feel no sympathy for the imaginary boy in Botswana with no body. Why do you think I'm the Minister for Evil?

That's brill. I've got the the ultimate urban myth at home in a chrissie prezzy book of e-tales, which I'll post tomorrow (unless somebody else gets there first).

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Thanks Zorpheus-I now feel so much better for a wonderful belly laugh.

I get these email from 'friends' frequently.I always delete them without reading them and the funny/odd/peculiar thing is they(the 'friends') never notice that I do so.I've done this with chainmail all my life and I've had a pretty good life so far and a completely clear conscience as well.I'm also sick of all the virus warnings I get from complete strangers.

I never get snail mail that is as prolific as email.I reckon it is so easy to send an email and with snail mail it requires too much effort to find the stationary,type/write the letter,find the address book,find a stamp and then go out and find a postbox particularily in inclement weather.
I wish Windows had a message box that says "Do you really want to send this puerile,trite or obscene crap to all your friends?If you do you are in danger of losing every friend you ever made".I reckon a few employees that have lost jobs due to inappropriate emails might agree.

On the subject of e-mailed virus warnings, I've only ever had one that wasn't a hoax. And that was from one of my best friends, who's a fairly computer-god-like person and knows a virus from a strawberry. As it turns out, he'd only sent me the virus warning so we could laugh at the latest vulnerability in Outlook Express, which neither of us use (he doesn't even have Windows).

What computer god does?

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I think the second theory would be more plausible if Microsoft owned any anti-virus companies. Don't you think it's strange that there is no Microsoft Anti-Virus? There used to be, but it's completely vanished now...

probably had a security hole...

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Good point. Some of the ones I've gotten are just so silly it's beyond belief that anyone I know would actually forward them to me. Anyone seen the petition to remove the anonymity on the killers of James Bulger? That's just dangerous, that one - if that happened, two more murders would take place.