Lauren Henry

Hoax, chain letters, and urban legends

Choice of elective

I think everyone who has email and reads email sent from unknown sources have heard about hoaxes, read chain letters, and laughed at some urban myth. First of all, I think if you don't recognize the email, you should disregard it and delete if before opening. I know I've heard about the needle in the phone booth and the infected needles found in movie theaters. These so called hoaxes even made the news. Since it made headlines, some people may only catch part of the news and miss the general concept that it's a hoax email and not to believe in it. They only hear what they want to on the news and will pass on the rumor because they think it's factual. I know I did (hey everyone, did you hear on the news last night about a guy who got stuck with an infected HIV needle in the movie theater?) Hello! Make sure you catch all the news before passing it on. It's like the game telephone, people will only hear and read what they want and then pass that information on altered a little. We have to be careful of what we hear and read. It's not all TRUE!

As for the hoax about the icebox being contaminated, I haven't heard that versions but I did hear about a woman finding a hand in the ice machine. See, once again this can be an example of how rumors get started and changed. But what's to say things like this didn’t' happen. There could be some sick person out there who read or heard about these hoaxes and actually did this because they got the idea from email? I think what this only proves is how sick people can be and how they want to scare the community by passing on rumors about tainted cola products, or Texas child dieing from heroin overdose. I'm sure these aren't completely false. I'm sure somewhere along the line a version of these stories originated fro the truth but because altered to scare individuals who are naive enough to believe anything.

Then there are the famous chain letters we all love to receive. I think everyone should read the recommended sites describing how to identify phony emails. It's good to know that you should look to see if the email has a from address or if you recognize where the address was sent from. If the subject tries to threat, hook you in, or make a request, usually this indicates it's a chain letter. I like the fact that to check to see if it's authentic you should see if it has a complete name and address to contact the person. You can always email them back to see if it is legit. Or you could always email the CDC agency to find out if it's an email hoax or chain letters. I think the hoax buster's link is an important site for everyone to view so people know what to look out for and reason why not to get hooked on mass emails that aren't necessary.