[SeniorTech] How to recognize an email hoax

From: "Jerry Taylor" <jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:30:54 -0400
How to Recognize an Email Hoax 


It contains one or more of the following clues:

1. The text was not written by the person who sent it to you. It was
merely "forwarded" to you (usually with a large number of other
addresses at the top because of the number of times it has been
foolishly forwarded).

2. A request to "Send this to everyone you know." No real warning
message from a credible source will tell you to send this to everyone
you know.

3. Technical sounding language. For example: "If the program is not
stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an nth-complexity
infinite binary loop which can severely damage the processor." It may
SOUND real, but with a little research, you find that there is no such
thing as an "nth-complexity infinite binary loop."

4. Credibility by association. Good hoaxes usually tell you that this
warning is being sent out by Microsoft, Intel, McAfee, or some other
major company. A quick check of the company's web site will show no
reference this warning.

5. Statements like "This is NOT a hoax" usually mean it is a hoax.

6. Overly emphatic language. Look for lots of UPPERCASE LETTERS and
w-a-y too many EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

7. "Important" information. Seriously, now, doesn't common sense tell
you that, if this were a REAL virus that was doing all the damage the
warning claims, wouldn't there have been some mention of it on the
evening news? Is "forwarding emails" really the best way to get the
warning out? 

8. No references. Hoaxes will not typically give any websites with
corroborating information. Note: You may find a generic reference to a
major web site (such as "www.microsoft.com") but it's left up to YOU to
search the entire site for confirmation. (You won't find any.)

Finally, and most importantly, please think twice before you pass along
any of these "warnings." If you can't personally verify that they're
true, please delete them, and save us all a lot of headaches.

Thank you.

Jerry 



Jerry Taylor
SeniorTech
http://www.seniortech.us <http://www.seniortech.us/> 
Personalized In-Home Computer Lessons
     for Senior Citizens and Retirees
585-964-3319
"Computers are not just for kids"
[SeniorTech] How to recognize an email hoax

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