Don’t fall for hoax emails
Not every email petition or virus warning is real
Hoax emails, such as chain letters or bogus petitions, are sometimes nothing more than a nuisance but they can be used by spammers to collect email addresses and some are more sinister. Learn how to spot a hoax.
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.
- Political petitions.
- 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.
- 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:
- Don’t forward it.
- If you received it from a friend, consider sending them a copy of this article.
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