Spotting E-mail Hoaxes
The High Price of Hoaxes
As you read this, there are hundreds of virus hoaxes, misleading messages, and just plain e-junk circulating in cyberspace, making the rounds, coming soon to an inbox near you. We have all received them - false security and health scares, fake legislative alerts, urban legends retold with a twist, supposed free goods or easy money just for forwarding a message to everyone you know. While some of these messages are obviously hoaxes, some are less apparent, and we have all been taken in by them at one time or another. E-mail hoaxes and junk e-mail are becoming so prevalent that many consider them as much of a threat to system resources as viruses - the cumulative time spent deleting (or forwarding!) hoaxes and spam, day after day, and across millions of computer users adds up!
All that said, it is a very good idea to be skeptical about information when it arrives in your inbox. Read on for some tips and resources on how to identify and deal with hoaxes, scams, and time wasters that you may receive.
General Tips
- Virtually any chain email you receive (i.e., any message forwarded multiple times) is more likely to be false than true. Be skeptical.
- Hoaxers usually try every means available to make their lies believable - e.g., mimicking a journalistic style, attributing the text to a “legitimate” source.
- Be especially wary of health-related rumors. Most importantly, never act on this type of rumor without first verifying its accuracy with your doctor or other reliable source.
How to Spot an Email Hoax
(From http://urbanlegends.about.com/index.htm)
Without researching the factual claims made in a forwarded email there's no sure way to tell it if it's a hoax, but here you'll find common signs to watch for:
- Note whether the text was actually written by the person who sent it to you. If not, be skeptical.
- Look for the telltale phrase, “Forward this to everyone you know.”
- Look for statements like “This is not a hoax” or "This is not an urban legend." They usually mean the opposite of what they say.
- Look for overly emphatic language, the frequent use of UPPERCASE LETTERS and multiple exclamation points!!!!!!! If the message seems geared more to persuade than to inform, be suspicious. Hoaxers are out to push emotional buttons.
- If the message purports to give you extremely important information that you've never heard of before or seen elsewhere in legitimate venues, be suspicious.
- Read carefully and think critically about what the message says, looking for logical inconsistencies, violations of common sense, and obviously false claims.
- Look for subtle or not-so-subtle jokes, indications that the author is pulling your leg.
- Check for references to outside sources. Hoaxes will not typically name any, nor link to Web sites with corroborating information.
- Check to see if the message has been debunked by Web sites that cover Internet hoaxes (see below).
- If you cannot verify the facts, do not forward the message!
Additional Resources on E-mail Hoaxes and Viruses
- Internet/Web Hoaxes - About.com net lore rumors, hoaxes and urban legends site, containing a constantly updated, categorized index of Internet hoaxes, rumors, chain letters, jokes and email urban legends.
- Computer Virus Hoaxes - About.com resources on computer virus hoaxes.
- How to Recognize a Hoax - A very informative page compiled by the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability. It also contains listings of the most frequently sighted hoaxes and chain letters.
- Snopes.com - Urban legends reference pages, containing resource information and listings of current hoaxes by category.
