Internet Hoaxes

Hoaxes are either deliberate or unintentional e-mail messages warning people about a phony virus, malicious software, or just false information. Hoax emails start off as a deliberate attempt to deceive, but are eventually forwarded by honest people that believe the email is true and want to forward the info to their friends. Some hoaxes create as much trouble as viruses by causing massive amounts of unnecessary e-mail, but most are simply annoying.

The picture (without the airplane on the runway insert) posted to the left, was circulated in emails around the globe. The email stated that it was actual photograph recovered from a camera found in the rubble of the World Trade Center. The accusation was that this man was standing on the viewing platform of the world trade center while the plane in the background was about to crash into it.

The reality is that the picture of the man standing on the World Trade Center was probably accurate. The problem is that the generic "airplane sitting on the runway picture in the insert" was found on the internet, and it is an exact match of the airplane in the doctored up photograph. A nice art program like Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw and you can make a taxi cab appear to fly into a building.

Hoaxes have existed ever since the dawn of man. Hoaxes have existed for so long mostly due to our willingness to believe, and our willingness to forward hoax e-mails to our entire contact list. The end result is the proliferation of false information and the excess unnecessary bandwidth load on the internet service provider of the sender and receiver. 

Most internet hoaxes can be easily detected and stopped in their tracks by doing a little research.  For example, there is no "email tracking program by Microsoft", nothing is going to "dance on your screen" if you forward an email to 10 people on your email list, and there is no cookie recipe worth $500. (Not any that we have tasted anyway). For your convenience we have included four sites that are excellent sources to verify if an email you received is a hoax or possibly a statement of fact.

The best advice we can give is if you receive an email that you believe is a hoax, verify it with one of the websites below and notify the sender that it is a hoax and attach the website link to prove it. This will educate the sender about internet hoaxes and will give them the proper websites to verify any future emails before forwarding them along. They will appreciate you taking the time to educate them because no one wants to feel foolish by forwarding false or misleading information. Also, don't forget to visit our webpage on Internet Fraud.