This is serious!!!
I would do it for you.
Actually the subject of the above email when it arrived in my email box was “Fwd: FW: FW: FW: : Fwd: This is serious!!! I would do it for you.(corrected)”
Those extra forwards told me that somebody who knows me thought this was so urgent for me to read that he didn’t hesitate at all and forwarded it along to help. And it was a noble gesture, “Let’s help save this missing boy, Evan Trembley, whose been missing now for two weeks.”
And the dozens of others who forwarded it along to everyone they knew were “stepping up to lend a hand” too, the Internet is a shining world of noble gestures!
And you probably know where this is going. A quick visit to my favorite “Internet Hoaxes” web site, Snopes.com, turned up yet another “False” toward the veracity of Evan’s nonexistant plight: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/missing/trembley.asp
Here are links to several of the Top 25 Hoaxes (determined by frequency of access and user searches) on Snopes to get you started as a “Hoax-Buster”:
- Distinguishing Transparent Mirrors in Store Fitting Rooms
- Bill Gates / Microsoft / AOL Giveaway
- #77 or *677 Cell Phone Notification
- #90 Phone Scam
- Glade PlugIns Fire Hazard
Now, some of the things people send along are actually true, and the Snopes web site takes no sides. If it’s true, they’ll show the proof.
One great feature of the site, you can sign up and be notified by email whenever a new hoax is posted by the Snopes staff. It’s one email you’ll be safe to forward along to your friends!
Enjoy! (And “Snope” those emails before you forward ’em!)
–Marc
April 27, 2008 @ 7:30 PM