Chain Emails 2008: What to Look Out For

We've probably all, at some point in our lives, had the bother of having to read through pointless emails, cleaning out our inboxes; emails claiming that, by forwarding that particular email, all our dreams will come true, and we'll never want for anything again.

Most of us are just happy to just hit the delete button, but what happens when things become slightly more sinister?

Now, I'm sure all of us are familiar with the concept of chain emails; whatever the topic, they're emails offering some sort of incentive to encourage readers to send the email on to their contacts, for whatever reasons.

However, there are many different types of chain emails; there are the cutesy, sweet, friendship-based emails, where you might find a cute poem, along with several pictures of teddy bears, or guardian angels, of some sort.

These types of emails are pretty much harmless, easy to delete, and only slightly annoying.

Now we move on to the scamming emails; the 'If you don't send this on to seven people, you're going to have to start paying for MSN' kind of emails, which seem to become more and more convincing, as time goes by; the last one I received even had a fake page from BBC International News, echoing the email, almost word for word; all very convincing, I'm sure.

Now, many of us are majorly concerned by such emails, the threat of such a serious change in our monthly expenditures and activities scaring us enough to forward the email to others, enforcing a vicious circle.

Just to dispel the rumors, once and for all, MSN News would be the first company to feature on whether or not they're making their services premium, so any doubts on an authentic-looking email, just search it on MSN.

Next on the list, the 'bleeding heart' emails, the most common of which are about a young child, with a terminal illness, who needs people to forward the email, so the 'Make A Wish Foundation' (yes, it's a real organization), will fund some life-changing cure, for them.

This is absolutely ridiculous, as I'm sure most of us realize; however, the line 'If you don't pass this on, you don't have a heart', or something of the sort, makes it all-too-tempting to hit the 'forward' button.

Just to rid you of any underlying doubts, let me reassure you that no charitable organization in the world would conduct business in such a way, forcing a terminally ill child to forward emails all day long, so they can have treatments.

The final email we're going to examine, here, is probably the most terrifying of all; the 'don't pass this on, or you'll get bad luck / nightmares / no love / someone standing over your bed to kill you' etc; the kind of email we feel a subconscious need to pass on, for fear of what might happen, if we don't; somewhere, in our heads, we know that this is preposterous, but it still appeals to our inner anxiety.

I urge you, though, not to pass these on.

Yes, it's scary, but by passing these on, you're only going to enforce this type of email, making ten or so of your friends undergo exactly the same problem.

If you are likely to fall for such emails, I simply recommend you delete all your forwarded emails, before reading them; save yourself the burden of entering ten contacts, then sitting there, for about an hour, trying to decide whether or not send it.