Top Ten Urban Legends of 2006

Urban legends are stories with a little basis in fact, that are often circulated by people who believe them to be true. Often, people share these stories with the disclaimer that they really happened to a "friend of a friend". Some urban legends turn out to be true, while some are distorted, sensationalized or exaggerated versions of the truth. Urban legends have been circulated in the past by newspapers or word of mouth, but more recently, the internet has been a major factor in their spread. Here are the top urban legends of 2006.

1. Stolen UPS uniforms being used by terrorists

This urban legend, usually circulated by e-mail says that hundreds of UPS uniforms were auctioned off on e-bay and will be used by terrorists to impersonate delivery people. Research of e-Bay's records showed that a few sales of UPS uniforms did happen. The FBI investigated the transactions and they were found to have no terrorist connection.

2. Entering your PIN number backwards at an ATM will summon the police

This urban legend gives comfort those who often use their ATM machines in dark alleys late at night with suspicious characters roaming nearby. According to the legend, you can enter your pin number backwards and the police will be notified and come to your rescue should you be threatened to withdraw all your money at weapon-point. While the technology does exist for this kind of "panic" response, it has not been put into use because of problems with ATM numbers that are the same forwards as they are backwards. These palindrome PIN numbers, like 3443 would be impossible to enter backwards.

3. Life is Beautiful computer virus

This supposed computer virus has also been called "Life is Wonderful" or "Everything is Beautiful" and is a hoax. There is no computer virus by any of these names.

4. Target does not support Vetrans

This is a good example of an urban legend that is based in fact. Several years back, a Veteran called his local Target store asking for a cash donation for a traveling memorial wall. His request was turned down and the information he got as the reason why, was inadequate. In response to this rebuffing, the disgruntled Veteran wrote a letter and sent it off via e-mail to everyone he knew. They sent it off to everyone on their mailing lists, and so on, and so on.

Target's official policy on donations is that cash donations only come from corporate headquarters and request for funds need to go through them. Individual stores can only give donations of gift cards. Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, the Veteran wrote a letter of apology , sent it to everyone on his mailing list and asked them to do the same, hoping that the news would get out quickly like it did with his first letter, that there had been a mistake. Unfortunately, people like to pass on bad news more than they like to pass on good news, so the urban legend continues.

5. Cell phone numbers will be provided to telemarketers

This urban legend warns all that their cell phone numbers will be given out to telemarketers if they don't register their cell number on a "do not call" registry. Telemarketers, the urban legend says, can call your cell phone and even if you don't answer, you will still have to pay for the call because they will leave a voice mail. This is false and there is no need to register your cell phone number with the "do not call" registry.

6. Applebee's giving away a $50 gift certificate for forwarding an e-mail

This is a variation on the "Bill Gates is giving away money" urban legend. As your father always told you, the is no such thing as a free lunch. That pearl of wisdom applies here.

7. Lipstick contains high levels of lead and will cause cancer

While lipstick does contain a miniscule amount of lead, even if the levels were high, they still would not cause cancer. Of all the health issues that may arise from contact with lead, cancer is not one of them. Cosmetics sold in the United States must meet strict standards set by the FDA. Some artificial colorings contain very small amounts of lead that are not considered dangerous to humans. For example, FD&C Red #21 can not contain more than 20 parts per million of lead. All artificial colors are put through stringent testing by the FDA to ensure safety.

8. Forward "Slow Dance" e-mail and money will go to fight cancer

If you receive a poem in your e-mail in box called "Slow Dance" with a claim that it was written by a dying 7 year old girl, you have just received an urban legend. The story goes on to say that by forwarding the e-mail, money will be donated to cancer research. In reality, the poem "Slow Dance" was not written by a dying teen, but by a healthy man and child psychologist named David Weatherford.

9. Starbucks doesn't support the war or anyone in it

This urban legend asserts that GI's in Iraq, homesick for their American Starbucks coffee wrote to the company asking for free product to boost their morale. It's unknown if Starbucks ever refused to give the GI's the coffee, but if they had, it would have been because of a company policy which states that individual stores donate to causes in their communities. Much like the Target urban legend, an e-mail was composed and passed around, then a retraction was sent out, but the original negative claim is more popular than the truth.

10. Microsoft and AOL giving away money for forwarding e-mail

This is an "oldie but a goodie" as this e-mail has been going around for years. According to the urban legend, Microsoft and AOL are conducting studies on a new software and all you need to do is forward an e-mail. After a few weeks, you receive a check just for forwarding the e-mail. The reported amounts are anywhere from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Of course this is all false and your dad is still right: There's no such thing as a free lunch.