Two different types of hoaxes are constantly circulating on the
Internet. One is urban legends which usually are harmless,
except for wasting bandwidth because they are circulating via
ten of millions of messages.
Most do little more than tell a tall story that is not true but they instruct you to forward a copy
of the message to everybody in your address book. This of
course is how the bandwidth is wasted. Some are meant to
unnerve people & others do cost individuals & companies
money but these are rare.
The other common type of hoax is the fake virus scare messages that are also circulating by the
millions. These will often warn you to beware of a message
with a certain subject & if you receive it not to open it because
it will cause irreparable harm to your system. They always try
to convey a great sense of urgency to the receiver. They will
also instruct you to forward the warning message to
everybody in your address book. They try to convince the
receiver that by forwarding the message they are doing
everybody to whom they forward it a great service. Again
little harm is normally done except for the wasting of
bandwidth. The people who create these hoaxes no doubt
have a very good laugh knowing the huge number of
messages that will be sent for no valid reason creating much
bogus traffic on the Internet. There are at least 4 sites that
provide info on fake viruses & urban legends:
– Internet Tourbus, www.tourbus.com
– AFU & Urban Legends Archive, www.urbanlegends.com
– Network Associates, www.nai.com/services/support
– Symantec, www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
These sites can greatly aid in dispelling myths that surround
many bogus email messages found in cyberspace. When you
receive a message containing either an urban legend or virus
warning, do not forward it even if it came from a reliable
source. Chances are fairly good that it is a hoax.
Clicking on a malicious email attachment or a link to a phishing website can lead to a great deal of trouble and stress.
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