Urban Legends
Bookmark this page and share it with others! (Or press Ctrl/D on Firefox)In a way, urban legends are fun. It's like when you are a kid and you gather around a campfire or a pajama party and you tell stories designed to scare the others. There's not a lick of truth in the story, but it gives you the creeps to think about it. Urban legends have existed for a long time in the real world.
The Internet is a big audience for pranksters who get a thrill creating tales of woe that have never happened then passing it around as an authoritative statement by some alleged person that may or may not be real. Eventually, a gullible person will freak out and spread the warning to all of their friends and before you know it, an urban legend is born online.
Before you pass around such foolish gossip, ask yourself, does it really seem possible? Where is the proof? If there is a person or company listed, check it out.
Some of the common ones going around:
- Congress is passing a bill to tax your e-mail and/or Internet use.
- Microsoft is giving away money if you help them test their email software.
- Any company is giving away free money or products by passing along this e-mail to as many people as possible.
- A picture of a man just before the World Trade Center was hit by a plane. [The balcony would have been on the opposite side of the building where the planes hit.]
- Woman falls asleep and finds her kidneys stolen.
- Deodorant use causes breast cancer.
- Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC because they no longer use true chickens according to health code standards. [KFC is named so because of the initials and to minimize the fact that it is FRIED.]
They ARE false rumors. Ignore them. If you participate in passing them on you will look like a gullible fool to all your Internet savvy friends.
As far as virus warnings go, most of them are false and some are true. If you want to be helpful to all of your friends and protect them from a true virus, worm or other destruction to their computers, please circulate the following message to all your friends:
Dear Friends:
There are many virus and worm warnings in circulation and I am sure you are tired of getting worked up over false rumors. So hopefully, if you follow this letter, you will be 99.99% safe.
Do not open an attachment to your e-mail unless you are expecting an attachment. If the attachment is from your friend, e-mail them to make sure they sent you the attachment before you open it. Any attachment you open, run a virus scan on it first.
If you see something you want to download, first ask yourself is the source reliable. If it is a reliable source, download it but be sure you have a virus protection active before you open the file. Do not open something that has a virus detected!!
Have a firewall set up to keep most people from spying on your computer. It won't keep everyone out, but most people won't bother going through the loopholes.
A virus or worm will not attack your computer merely by opening your e-mail. It works only by opening the attachement. If you want the official word on a new virus, go to the web site where your virus protection came and get an update.
If you do these things, you are pretty much safe and no longer have to worry about all those pesky, mostly false rumors your friends send you.
Sincerely,
Your friend
Or better yet, send your friends to Hoax Kill to squash many of the annoying rumors and fables.
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