by Nick Mediati and Anne B. McDonald, PC World
E-mail fills our in-boxes with come-ons to see celebrities naked and
to get rich quick. Even though we know deep down that these are fakes, why do we continue to think, 'Maybe?'
Congratulations, you won the lottery in a country whose name you can't even pronounce! A wealthy oil executive in a far-off land wants to give you millions of dollars, right now! Sexy girls want to meet you!
Now let's be honest. If someone came to your door and told you any of those things, you'd tell him to get lost. So why do people still fall for this stuff when it's in their e-mail, as if a poorly written message made a weird-sounding pitch any more legitimate?
The saddest part is, the only reason annoying e-mail keeps filing your inbox is because it works.
No matter the number of reports detailing e-mail hoaxes gone bad and tales of spammers taking people for all they're worth, people just keep on clicking.
Why? It's the law of percentages. The response rate for snail-mail spam is between 0.5 and 1 percent. That might not sound like a lot, but if you apply it to e-mail, it means a spammer can send 1 million messages -- without the cost of paper and postage -- and 5,000 to 10,000 people will answer. In fact, a study out this month indicates that nearly 30 percent of Internet users confessed to purchasing something from the Internet.
Here's PC World's list, in no particular order, of the top e-mail hoaxes that have come through inboxes and fooled millions.
1) Raise bonsai kittens in bottlesIt's amazing how many people were willing to believe this e-mail about a breeder in New York who raised kittens in bottles.Actually, it started as a fake Web site, Bonsai Kitten, the product of MIT students. The idea was so outrageous, it spread like wildfire via e-mail.
2) Sign a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide
E-mail alerts outlining the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide swept the Internet in the late 1990s and still pop up today. Well, let us tell you one more thing about dihydrogen monoxide: It's more commonly known as water.
3) Extreme technophobia: Pop popcorn with cell phones
With all the talk of cell phone dangers, the idea of radiation from them being powerful enough to pop popcorn doesn't seem that far-fetched, at least on the surface. So why wouldn't you believe the swarm of e-mail telling you to look at the incredible video of friends popping kernels of corn with their mobile phones?
Unfortunately, as you might expect, it was all fake. A company called Cardo Systems made the video to promote its cell phone headsets. Abraham Glezerman, Cardo's CEO, told CNN that the phones were real and the popping popcorn was real, but the video was a composite, with the footage of the popcorn heated over a kitchen stove digitally dropped into the video of the folks with their phones.
4) Bill Gates wants to give you money
Although Gates is being very generous with his fortune now that he has retired from day-to-day work with Microsoft, you can get some of it only by applying to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
5) Launch a nuclear strike from your PC
In 2002, Symantec supposedly issued an advisory about certain e-mail messages flying around the country about an "important virus to look out for." The antivirus-software maker, which does issue warnings on real viruses, allegedly instructed Internet users not to open any e-mail with the subject line "LAUNCH NUCLEAR STRIKE NOW." If you did open that e-mail, you would inadvertently end up sending nuclear warheads winging their way toward the former Soviet Union.
Needless to say, the virus isn't real, Symantec didn't issue such a caution, and it should be painfully obvious that this one is a hoax.
6) Nigeria Scam
The e-mail suggests that your help is needed to claim an abandoned sum of money in a foreign account, or something similar. The message typically promises that you will receive a large amount of money if you simply send a smaller amount of money now.
These convincing missives, which may or may not be from Nigeria, are known as 419 scams (named after a section of the Nigerian criminal code that deals with fraud). Not only will you not get rich, but you'll also have a very hard time getting back any money you wire the sender up front.
7) 'Video: Watch Angelina Jolie's lips explode!' People kept clickling on dangerous and fake attachments that purport to be interesting photos or videos but actually turn out to be damaging viruses or Trojan horses.
8) Work Virus
Several resources can tell you whether an e-mail claim you're interested in is a hoax. One is
Hoax-Busters.org, which describes itself as the Big List of Internet Hoaxes; another is
Snopes.com, which specializes in urban legends and hoaxes, and a third is
Hoax-Slayer.com. Check out any of these sites before you forward that next petition, chain letter, or crazy photo.
Hoax-Busters also has a list of the "5 Telltale Signs of an Internet Hoax" that might useful.
1) The e-mail will have a sense of urgency about it, and probably a lot of exclamation points in it.
2) The e-mail will insist that you tell all your friends.
3) The text is adamant that this is "NOT a hoax.
4) It will earnestly inform you that there are dire consequences for not participating.
5) It probably is full of >>>> marks, showing that it has fooled a lot of people before you, and has been forwarded all over the planet. Don't add any more!
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Kermit's Thoughts: When I as a teen I was taken in by some of these too. Well just be careful. The harmless ones are fine, but some of them comes hidden with dangerous viruses that kills our computer when we open the attachments. For me, I simply refused to open any attachments files sent via email. Hahah! It works! I have a healthy computer :)
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