Myths and Hoaxes

Warning signs of a hoax:

• It begins with a giant list of email addresses.
• It has no web site, address, or phone number for you to confirm the truth.
• It cites some authoritative source (the government, the New York Times, Microsoft, whatever), but does not link to a web page run by that source.
• It says to tell everyone you know.

Where to find the truth:

• I usually go first to snopes.com.
• McAfee's Virus Hoax Page and Symantec's Virus Hoax Page - let you know if a virus warning is real or a hoax. As McAfee says: "Never open an email attachment unless you know what it is--even if it's from someone you know and trust."
• urbanlegends.com - the real deal on various amazing stories.
• urbanmyths.com - debunking more hype.
• ciac.org - CIAC's Hoaxbusters site. CIAC also has a funny virus warning spoof.

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This page last revised Sat Nov 10 18:52:42 EST 2007 by leaf