How2 Deal With Email/Chainmail Hoaxes.

For years I have been telling people why I don't open forwarded mail, or 'chain letter emails'.  Recently I took one of these chain letters and extracted the email addresses that it contained. 

Spammers know that if they appeal to our heart, our paranoia, and our fears we will pass these emails along and they can then intercept the growing mailing list.

This chain letter was less than a week old when I got it and in that week it had been circulated to 169+ people.  Many probably forwarded it to everyone in their address book which means it was circulated to many more people during that week.  If I can extract 169 names and addresses from a week-old chain letter imagine what a professional 'spammer' can do.  In other words, besides the possibility of spreading and/or receiving viruses in these chain letters you also put your email address and the address of everyone in your address book in the hands of these spammers who have special 'scrubber' programs that intercept internet emails containing large "To" and "cc:" listings.

For example:

1. There is no child who's dying wish is to receive an email from every state in America [think about what little sense that makes, maybe a postcard but an email?]

2. The housewife in New Jersey obviously cares about little, and it is that attitude that contributes to the mess she complains about and we find ourselves in over and over again.

3. The Dr. Dobson & CBS Response email is a hoax [he even acknowledges it is] the petition and the FCC hearing were settled over 35 years ago and did not seek to eliminate anything, and the cancellation of Touched by An Angel is old news and unrelated*see comments for more on this one*].   For the FCCs fact sheet on the petition/hearing click here.  For Focus on the Faith response click here.

4. The missing child Evan Trembley is a hoax, its listed as #13 on the top 25 Hoaxes at Snopes.

5. "In God We Trust" missing from new dollar coin is listed as the #15 most popular hoax.  The inscription has only been moved to the edge of the coin, not eliminated (same for "E Pluribus Unum).

6. The EID [Islamic] stamp is a hoax containing inaccurate information.  The stamp itself is endorsed and promoted by George Bush & the White House.  #20 on the hoax list.

7. Microsoft will not pay you for an email.  This hoax is 7 years old and at #25 on the hoax list.   [this makes as little sense as the Nigerian email scams but it manages to suck people in because it seems so harmless].

Most of these hoaxes are years old and are repeatedly circulated on the internet faster than they can be reputed.  Why?  Besides the spam/hacker factor,^{[see above]} many myths and hoaxes are promoted by zealots of the political and religious nature with hidden agendas, but that is another discussion.  I recommend the Snopes website for looking up whether something is a hoax or not, go to their website and enter the title of the email in the search box or click on one of their categories.  http://snopes.com/

So what do we do?  If you receive something forwarded to you it is my suggestion that you don't open it, don't forward it and you tell everyone on your mailing list to do the same.  If you want to pass something along then:

1. create a new message

2. copy the text of what you want to pass along, not the addresses or "To" and "From" info.

3. paste it into the new message

4. put your address in the "To" field

5. put everyone else's address you want to send it to in the 'bcc' field, not the 'cc' field. 

This way the only address you share with your mailing list and the world is yours, the 'bcc' field hides everyone else's address.

be sure to view the comments link below, gdl