Examples of hoax emails

Don’t confuse a hoax email with a phishing email (which fraudulently tries to get you to divulge private information). Hoax emails are similar to chain letters. Examples include:

• Bogus virus warnings.
• The promise of free gifts or cash for forwarding an email.
• Charity email request
• Appeals to help someone who is ill or in trouble.
• Chain letters (“forward this to ten people for good luck”).

More sinister examples include:

• Pyramid schemes that promise a massive payback if you forward the message to enough people.
• Spammers use hoax emails to collect addresses.
• Bogus email asking for a donation to a disaster that has occurred somewhere in the world.
• Emails that maliciously target individuals and make trouble for them.

Tell-tale hoax warning signs

• Requests to forward an email to five, ten people or more (“Forward this email to everyone you know”).
• No verifiable information but lots of plausible but unsupported claims (“Thousands of people have already won”).
• Colourful or over-eager language (“this is the WORST virus yet!”).
• Credibility by association or, to put it bluntly, unsubstantiated name dropping (“Company X will give you $5 to forward this email to your friends”).
• A hook to get your attention (“Make money fast” or “A little girl is dying”).
• A threat to create a sense of urgency (“Claim your prize before it is too late”).

What to do if you receive a hoax email

• If you suspect a hoax, check it out online at one of the following websites:
  • Snopes
  • McAfee
  • Symantec
• Don’t forward it.
• If you received it from a friend, consider sending them a copy of this article.