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Virtual Library : Beware of those who forward
e-mail 'warnings'!

How often have you received an e-mail from a friend, or acquaintance, with a subject header such as, "Fw: Fw: Re: Do not open an email called INVITATION", or "Fw: Re: New Virus Urgent Action"? And, no doubt you're just one of many recipients, all of whom can see the details of everyone else who has received the glad tidings.

 

Open the e-mail and you'll see something like, "Please see below information regarding a new computer virus. Do not open any attachment marked "INVITATION" as it may destroy your computer's hard drive."


Internet investigation of this supposed dire threat will almost always reveal it to be a hoax, but by then even more people will have forwarded it to everyone in their address book. And so the wretched thing perpetuates...

 

This type of e-mail is perhaps less common than it used to be. However, it's still annoying to be at the receiving end, especially when you've been sent the same 'warnings' about twenty times over the years, and usually by people who really should know better!

Investigate BEFORE you forward!

Not only does such e-mail misinformation clog up the internet, it is also the perfect way for spammers to obtain live email addresses. Indeed, some would say that these hoaxes have been created for that very purpose.

 

So... before you reach for the 'Forward' button, do your research. Your first port of call should be Snopes, the urban legends reference web site. If you can't find anything there, try doing a search on whatever the subject of the e-mail is, together with the word 'hoax'.

Finally... remember that today's friend could be tomorrow's enemy!

The following is not a hoax, it is the very real story of a lady who forwarded an e-mail to all her friends at once, including her ex partner. Because she used the cc option, it meant that her recipients could also see everyone else's e-mail details.

 

A year or so went by during which time she fell out with her ex. But what better way for him to get his own back than to "Reply All" to her original e-mail? Embarrassingly for her, he took great delight in telling all her friends detailed information about their sex life together.

 

Needless to say, the lady in question never again sent an e-mail that included everyone she knew!

 


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