13.2 Categories of Hoax Messages
13.2 Categories of Hoax Messages Hoax messages fall into a two major categories, depending on their intent: virus warning or chain letter. 13.2.1 Virus WarningBy far, the most frequent hoax message is one containing a warning about a horrific virus. The virus purportedly arrives either via email or hiding within a file extension. That part sounds reasonable enough. But the warnings go further and say that its infected millions of PCs, destroys PCs, and there is nothing you can do. 13.2.1.1 Good Times virusThe Good Times virus hoax is the most famous and widespread of them all. It's a nice collection of the many tricks hoaxers will use to fool you. If you haven't read this one, let me be the first to introduce you:
Virus hoaxes often interlace real product and company names to provide shades of legitimacy . From the Wobbler virus hoax:
"Destroys" isn't a very specific term . A reliable alert would indicate exactly what gets done, and how. It was announced by IBM, and yet no one knows about it? A real warning would have included a specific link to IBM's web site. Some hoaxes use technology and acronyms to dupe people. This is from the Mobile Phone Virus hoax:
Lots of official sounding jargon, capitalized words, and exclamation points. But the links don't point to any specific information. And three million phones have been hit, yet, you don't know about it? The next example was taken from the Get More Money hoax:
Hopefully, you can see the common theme of trying to panic the reader. The next type of hoax message doesn't claim to be warning about a virus attack, but wants you to send it to everyone you know, just the same. 13.2.2 Chain LettersChain letter emails include all the other types of hoax emails that don't warn of a virus attack. They include sympathy requests , false giveaways, threats, scams, fake news reports , and urban myths. 13.2.2.1 Sympathy requestsSome try to pull at people's heart strings. Everyone has heard of the email asking for everyone to send the little boy stricken with cancer a get-well card. It was true; there was a little boy with cancer requesting get-well cards, but he was sick well before the Internet came along. He has long been an adult, graduated from college (with the cancer in remission), and his parents have long ago stopped trying to block the avalanche of cards they still receive each day. They now, along with a few friends, collect the postmarked stamps from the cards and give them to interested organizations. Another hoax message I received the other day related the story of a kidnapped little girl. It included her picture and asked anyone seeing her to call the authorities. I checked this one out on a hoax-busting web site. The girl was missing for a few hours and found at a friend's house -- years ago. The hoax message was not sent till days after the girl was found. It contains a few facts that could only have been known after the girl was discovered , so whoever originally made the hoax, knew the girl was located before the email plea was sent. This was one of several such hoaxes. 13.2.2.2 Fake news reportsMany chain letters claim to be warning the reader of some new bizarre act that is sweeping the nation. There have been no legitimate reports of anyone waking up in a bathtub full of ice after drinking in a bar and missing their kidney. Hypodermic needles are not waiting in children's plastic ball pits. Gang members are not told to kill people who flash their headlights at night as part of initiations. AIDS needles are not being left in mailboxes or gas pump handles. And LSD and poison are not being rubbed on public phones and soda machines. There are other chain-letter hoaxes circulating the Net. One talks about how some poor sucker was unknowingly charged $100 by an upscale department store for a chocolate cookie recipe. The letter "releases" the cookie recipe in an attempt to let the department store's "secret recipe" out. The department store has responded that the story has no validity and I can back up their claims by pointing to the fact that no store would ever sell an item at an even dollar amount. I hear the cookie recipe is not so great either. 13.2.2.3 GiveawaysMy friends get letters all the time saying that Bill Gates and Disney are offering either $1000 or a free trip to the first 10,000 people who send an email to a particular Disney address. Supposedly, Disney or Microsoft wants to test out a new marketing concept. First, Bill Gates doesn't give out money, he takes it. Secondly, Disney's the number one tourist attraction in the world. They don't need to do test marketing. They've got it down. I get many emails claiming I can make money fast! You can be reassured that the only ones hoping to make money fast are the ones who created the email. Another popular email chain letter says that if enough people send email to a particular company's email address, then the sender can rack up points and win prizes, clothing, or free memberships. The Gap Jeans hoax is among those types. If you send the chain letter to eight other friends, you will earn a free pair of jeans from the Gap 13.2.2.4 ThreatsLastly, some chain emails are just electronic versions of their mail counterparts that have circulated the globe for decades. The letter claims to be from somebody who cares about you, but then either promises good luck if you follow its instructions, or bad luck if you don't. You are instructed to send the same email to a certain number of people. And some superstitious people do. It as if some people believe that sending or not sending a particular fake email can actually impact their lives. Hopefully these examples will make you skeptical if a virus warnings or chain-letter message appears in your email inbox. |
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