Have you ever received an email from a trusted source warning about a virus or
some other horrendous event that is going to happen if you don’t act right now?
Did you go ahead and forward this warning to all your family, friends and, worst
of all, your associates?
And then, did you find out that it was a hoax?
Talk about egg in your face. I only did this once; I was forever cured, I hope.
Here are some things I remember receiving:
- A warning about a horrible virus on the loose that will have dire
consequences.
- National Public Radio is going to lose all or most of its funding.
- Cell phone numbers are going to be released to telemarketers – you need to
have your cell phone number listed on the national Do Not Call list.
- Miscellaneous chain letters.
The list could go on and on. McAfee’s website has a comprehensive list of
confirmed hoaxes.
As you can see from my short list, hoaxes include urban legends and chain
letters. Some are half-truths, such as the cell phone one (by the way, you can
list your cell phone number on the registry –
www.donotcall.gov).
Hoaxes are expensive. According to
Hoaxbusters,
if everyone on the Internet were to receive one hoax message and spend one
minute reading and discarding it, the cost would be something like:
50,000,000 people * 1/60 hour * $50/hour = $41.7 million
Most people have seen far more than one hoax message and many people cost a
business far more than $50 per hour when you add in benefits and overhead. The
result is not a small number.”
So before you forward that email to everyone on your list (as they often
request you to do) be a super-sleuth; look before you leap and do the following:
- Don’t open any attachments.
- Do a search online for either the virus name or subject.
- Once you’ve determined it to be a hoax, pass on the information by doing a
reply-all to your friend in order that everyone on the list gets to hear about
it. Try to be nice about it because we probably all know how embarrassing it is.
Happy safe computing!
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Before You Leap