How to Recognize an Urban Legend Email Message
Separating Fact from Fiction in Your Inbox
1) A plaintive plea to "Pass This On To Everyone You Know!" People follow this instruction blindly without every questioning why they should do so without any fact checking.
2) A "personal story" from a friend of a friend or someone's cousin's uncle whose identity can never be verified. Many urban legend emails contain a supposedly personal account, but it's never directly from the sender. It's always from some nameless person with dubious connections. Sometimes a police officer or other public official will be named, but a little checking quickly reveals the person does not exist.
3) A dire warning of some sort of danger. Urban legend emails tend to play on fear. They warn of a threat that sounds plausible at first glance but that turns out to be entirely false. If threats such as dangerous gang initiation rituals or household products poisoning pets were true, it would be all over the news.
4) An offer that claims a famous company such as Microsoft wants to give you something for free. Businesses don't randomly hand out money or prizes to unknown individuals via email.
If you are not sure whether or not a forwarded email is real, search www.snopes.com. This website is a huge repository of urban legend emails, which it debunks by checking the facts. Some of the emails turn out to have a small kernel of truth, and a few do end up being true, but the vast majority are 100 percent false. Passing them along is a waste of your time, and it also wastes time for the recipient and resources to send the email. Worse yet, you expose your email address to everyone else who receives the forwarded email in the future. This can expose you to a barrage of spam. Save time and resources and protect your email address by hitting the Delete button every time you get one of these messages.
Published by Barbara Nefer
Barbara Nefer is a mental health counselor and travel agency owner focused on Disney Cruises. She has been published in magazines like "The Writer," "Animal Wellness," "Going Bonkers," "Twins," and "Bird Tal... View profile
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- Most forwarded emails contain false information
- Forwarding urban legend emails can expose you to spam
1 Comments
Post a CommentVery well written piece..