RB Community Watch by Jacquie Nelson

Have you been "hoaxed" to death?
What do the "Klingerman Virus," "Email tax," "Internet Access Charge," "Kidney Harvest," "A little girl dying," "Lethal Rat Urine," "90# warning," and "Bud Frogs Screen Saver" all have in common? They are hoaxes and myths on the Internet. And they are sent to you to "pass on to all your friends" by email. Am I right? I received four of these this week. What do you do with these "forwards?" You delete them and never send to anyone.

KLINGERMAN VIRUS started in May 2000. The Center for Disease Control has issued a press release about the false e-mail chain letter about the "Klingerman Virus". The chain letter reads as follows: "Subject: Very Serious Information!!! This is an alert about a virus in the original sense of the word...one that affects your body, not your hard drive. There have been 23 confirmed cases of people attacked by the Klingerman Virus, a virus that arrives in your real mail box, not your e-mail in-box….." and so on.
EMAILTAX/INTERNET ACCESS CHARGE started in 1998. This is a variant of the historic modem tax hoax of bygone years. This latest version started making its rounds on Nov 6, 1998, based apparently on a CNN story. Early versions pointed the finger at the FCC as the villain in this story. Then it was 'the government', then it was 'the Congress'. FCC statement: "... the FCC has no intention of assessing per-minute charges on Internet traffic or of making any changes in the way consumers obtain and pay for access to the Internet."
KIDNEY HARVEST is an unbelievably contrived story and is totally false. As are "Needles on Theater seats," Needles on Gas Pump," LSD on the Phone," "Poisoned envelopes at the ATM," "Shampoo causes Cancer," "Sunscreen causes Blindness," "Roaches in the Tacos," "Kentucky Fried Hoax." And many, many more.

There are hundreds of other hoaxes, myths, giveaways scams, chain letter hoaxes, and misinformation that are soaring over the Internet. The CIAC Computer Incident Advisory Capacity of the U.S. Department of Energy is advising us all: "When you receive email (even from your best friend) that tells you to send this to everyone on your list or to everyone you love, it is almost always a hoax - malicious, or inconsequential.

"Recently, we have been hearing of spammers (bulk mailers of unsolicited mail) harvesting e-mail addresses from hoaxes and chain letters. After a few generations, many of these letters contain thousands of good addresses, which is just what the spammers want. We have also heard rumors that spammers are deliberately starting hoaxes and chain letters to gather e-mail addresses. So now, all those nice people who were so worried about the "the little girl dying of cancer" find themselves not only laughed at for passing on a hoax but also the recipients of tons of spam mail."

Check out all known frauds, chain letters, and hoaxes by going to www.hoaxmaster@ciac.org/

Courtesy RB NEWSJournal
March 15, 2001