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- Hoax = False, deliberately deceptive
information, including pranks; UL = Urban Legend: a popularly believed
narrative, most likely false; Rumor = Questionable or erroneous information
forwarded with gusto; Junk = Flotsam and jetsam of the Net
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- PROCTOR & GAMBLE IS RUN BY SATANISTS!
[UL] An oldie hits the charts again due to P&G's recent lawsuit against
Amway for allegedly spreading false rumors.
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- U.S. POSTAL SERVICE TO TAX EMAIL [Hoax]
They're at it again! The government, we're told, wants to place a tax on
every email delivered.
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- ANTI-PERSPIRANTS CAUSE BREAST CANCER
[Rumor] This false rumor has been thoroughly trounced by medical professionals.
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- MICROSOFT COMBATS AOL/NETSCAPE WITH 'EMAIL
TRACKING' [Hoax] Sorry, folks. Microsoft will not be handing out cash to
everyone who forwards this message.
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- WATERPROOF SUNSCREEN CAUSES BLINDNESS
IN CHILDREN [Rumor] Recycled 1998 warning alleges that children have gone
blind due exposure to waterproof sunscreens.
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- PETITION TO SAVE AOL INSTANT MESSAGES
[Hoax] If it sounds familiar, that's because the same hoax went around
last year; and the year before that; etc. etc.
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- BUD LIGHT 'GAY-FRIENDLY' AD [Rumor] Duelling
email forwards attempt to scare you into voting yea or nay on an ad campaign
that most of us will likely never see.
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- PETITION AGAINST 'BAN' ON RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING
[Junk] A petition, accusing Madalyn Murray O'Hare of asking the FCC to
ban religious broadcasting, is just as false now as it was when it first
appeared 25 years ago.
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- CANADA CONSIDERS 'EMAIL TAX' [Hoax] A
new variant of an old Internet legend riles Canadians.
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- MARILYN MANSON, PUPPY KILLER [Rumor]
Rumors that the rock star abuses animals in his act are untrue, says the
ASPCA.
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- 'FREE BEER' FROM MILLER BREWING CO. [Hoax]
Further adventures in "email tracking."
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- RACIAL INDICATORS IN SOCIAL SECURITY
NUMBERS [Rumor] Did the government secretly "color-code" your
SSN? Plus, alleged racism in Microsoft software.
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- LSD & STRYCHNINE ON PAY PHONE BUTTONS
[Rumor] More pay phone hysteria, courtesy of the Internet.
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- THE Y2K / VCR CONSPIRACY [Rumor] Are
VCR manufacturers hiding a simple solution to the Y2K bug?
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- HIV NEEDLE-STICK INCIDENTS IN DALLAS
AND DENVER [UL] New versions of last year's email rumors.
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- FEBREZE WARNING [Rumor] An email warning
in circulation since January warns that the fabric deodorizer Febreze is
toxic to pets.
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- SHAMPOO CANCER WARNING [Rumor] This chain
letter falsely claims that sodium laureth sulfate, an ingredient found
in some brand-name shampoos, is carcinogenic.
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- TOXIC TAMPONS [Rumor] Two versions of
this email alert are circulating, one more fraudulent than the other.
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- DAVID 'DARREN' BUCKLEW CHAIN LETTER [Hoax]
This one's a rewrite of the old "Timothy Flyte" chain letter
- just as bogus, just as annoying.
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- PETITION TO SAVE PBS / NPR / NEA [Junk]
"The Case of the Pointless Petition" - a cautionary tale.
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- NUD - 'NO URBAN DICTATE' [Rumor] From
David Spalding's 'Hoax du Jour' - Do some corporations apply racist criteria
when deciding where to advertise?
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- MISSING CHILD ALERT - 'ANDREW RUSSELL
STEINMETZ' [Junk] Another defunct alert. Andrew Steinmetz was kidnapped
by his father, but recovered safe and sound by authorities in February.
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- Y2K BANK SCAM [Rumor] Based on conflicting
reports from bankers and the media, we can confidently say that this rumor
may or may not be true!
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- 'VIDEO CLIP' CHAIN LETTER [Hoax] The
"coolest chain letter ever" claims that a funny video will appear
on your screen if you forward it to 11 people.
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- PROCTER & GAMBLE'S KILLER SPONGES
[Hoax] A new email alert claims that "pot scrubbers" from P&G
contain a toxic chemical.
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- MISSING CHILD ALERT - 'KRYSTAVA PATIENTS
SCHMIDT' [Junk] A message still circulating many months after the fact
pleads for help finding a missing child, but the youngster is safe and
sound.
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- 'SLOW DANCE' CHAIN LETTER [Hoax] An opportunity
to help save the life of a dying child who doesn't exist.
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- 'GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS' CHAIN LETTER
[Hoax] Just forward this message and get your name listed in Guinness -
along with a million or so other folks.
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- WALT DISNEY JR.'S 'EMAIL TRACKING' GIVEAWAY
[Hoax] It's running rampant again! This hoax declares you can win $5,000
or a trip to Disney World just by forwarding a chain letter.
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- PETITION FOR AFGHAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS [Junk]
Not a hoax, but a sincere effort gone astray.
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- LONG DISTANCE RATES FOR INTERNET ACCESS?
[Rumor] A "new" old rumor - the U.S. government is going to make
us pay long distance rates for Internet access.
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- HYPODERMIC NEEDLES IN PAY PHONE COIN
SLOTS [UL] Malicious drug addicts are out to kill us! Also: update on possible
copycat incidents in Virginia.
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- 'WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF AIDS' [UL] Email
scare story - randomly chosen victims are being injected with the AIDS
virus in crowded theaters and night clubs around the world.
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- MORE AIDS/HIV SNEAK ATTACKS [UL] A new
email variant of the "AIDS pin prick" legend.
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- TOMMY HILFIGER MADE RACIST STATEMENTS
ON OPRAH [Rumor] That's what the email rumor claims, at any rate. This
outright lie dates back several years.
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- 'INSIDE EDITION' MALL ABDUCTION SCAMS
[Rumor] This "warning to women" claims that elaborate scams are
being used by abductors to lure female shoppers out of malls and into waiting
vans.
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- BLUE MOUNTAIN GREETING CARDS 'VIRUS'
[Hoax] According to this false AOL rumor, electronic greeting cards from
Blue Mountain are infected with a virus.
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- THE GREAT 'GAS OUT' [Junk] A rather silly
chain letter attempting to rally Americans to protest the rising price
of gasoline.
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- DAVE MATTHEWS CHAIN LETTER [Hoax] The
latest variation on the "save a dying child" chain letter purports
to have the enthusiastic support of musician Dave Matthews.
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- ANOTHER CLOSE CALL AT THE MALL [UL] A
murderous, well-dressed "good samaritan" supposedly lurks in
the parking lots of shopping malls just about everywhere.
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- DEADLY RAT URINE ON SODA POP CANS [UL]
Three variations of a new cautionary tale making the email rounds since
October.
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- COCKROACH EGG TACOS AT TACO BELL [UL]
A fast-food horror story, as told in six different locations around the
U.S.
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- HEADLIGHT FLASHING 'GANG INITIATION RITE'
[UL] Urban legend from the early '90s re-emerges as a frightening email
alert.
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- SNAKES IN BURGER KING'S BALL PIT! [UL]
Email version of an old amusement park legend, in the form of a warning
to parents.
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- THE 'BLUE STAR' LSD TATOO [UL] Email
alert claims that colorful cartoon stickers laced with LSD pose a threat
to children everywhere.
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- THE 90# TELEPHONE SCAM [Rumor] A half
dozen or so variations of this alert have been in wide circulation since
last February. The scam is real, but it does not affect typical residential
phone customers.
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- BLACK VOTING RIGHTS TO EXPIRE IN 2007
[Rumor] This email alert, bouncing around the Internet since January, 1997,
has most of the facts wrong.
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- CORPSES OF CHILDREN USED TO TRAFFIC DRUGS
[UL] An old urban legend (c. 1973) dressed up in new clothes for the Internet.
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- EXIT23B.COM 'FREE STOCK' CHAIN LETTER
[Junk] The good news is: it's not a scam or a hoax. The bad news is: the
offer has expired.
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- FREE ICE CREAM FROM BEN & JERRY!
[True!] NOT a hoax, folks! Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. offers a "free
scoop" day on April 27.
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- Perennials
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- AIDS VIRUS WARNING [Hoax] According to
the bogus alert in constant circulation, this email-transmitted virus will
completely destroy your computer!
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- BUD FROGS SCREEN SAVER WARNING [Hoax]
Newly tweaked to deceive you, this one-year-old virus hoax is still going
strong.
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- THE CRAIG SHERGOLD CHAIN LETTER [UL]
Story of the little boy whose life was saved by a chain letter that won't
die.
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- GERBER SAVINGS BOND GIVEAWAY [Rumor]
Fax and email alerts falsely claim that Gerber Products Co. lost a class
action suit and now must pay out restitution to millions of American children
in the form of $500 savings bonds.
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- THE JESSICA MYDEK CHAIN LETTER [Hoax]
Jessica Mydek, a seven-year-old girl dying of cancer, does not exist, nor
will the American Cancer Society contribute money to research in her name
every time this chain letter is forwarded. (Also see the many Mydek copycats:
David Lawitts, Tamara Martin, Rick Connor, and Timothy Flyte.)
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- JOIN THE CREW/PENPAL GREETINGS/UNDELIVERABLE
MAIL [Hoax] Three aging virus hoaxes that won't go away, now most often
circulated in "combination alerts."
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- KIDNEY THIEVES [UL] The venerable organ
snatching legend erupts in Austin, Texas. This hysterical warning is a
hodgepodge of various mutations of the legend cut-and-pasted together.
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- 'NEED SOME EXTRA $$$ FOR THE SUMMER?'
[Hoax] Make millions just by forwarding this chain letter! Funded by "National
Banks everywhere!!" Teaches kids how to manage money!!!
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- NEIMAN MARCUS (MRS. FIELDS) COOKIE RECIPE
[UL] Posh department store charges $250 for a cookie recipe; victim gets
even by sharing it with the world. All the ingredients of a legend!
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- PREHISTORIC BARBIE [Hoax] This amusing
counterfeit letter purporting to originate from the Smithsonian responds
to an interesting backyard archaeological discovery.
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- THE TIMOTHY FLYTE CHAIN LETTER [Hoax]
Also known as the "David 'Darren' Bucklew" chain letter - another
variation on the "save a dying child" hoax.
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- VETERANS' DIVIDEND HOAX [Hoax] Bogus
offer to U.S. veterans involving alleged dividends on insurance policies.
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