Are You a Spammer?

Whilst working for a local authority, one day I received an email from my manager - all the staff in our large department got the same message. It was a warning about a computer virus that would wreak havoc on all our computers if we ever opened it. There were instructions on how to delete it and we were asked to forward the message to warn as many colleagues and friends as possible.

That message came from my manager, who had received it from the head of department, who got it from the chief exec, who received it from the chief exec of another council who… Because each person in the chain new and trusted the message sender, they passed it on, believing they were helping their colleagiues.

If any of them had taken a few seconds to type the name of the virus into Google they would have seen it listed as a hoax!

Does it really matter if there are a few red faces - they were trying to be helpful and it didn't cost anything to forward the message? Yes it does - these messages circle the globe in their millions, clogging up mail boxes and wasting the reader's time - it is SPAM. Worse still, if you are a manager and you forward a message to staff asking them to check their computers for a supposed virus file (Teddy Bear Virus) and delete it - there is the possibility that their computers might no longer function properly?

If you receive messages (chain letters) that ask you to forward to everyone you know because of a new virus or as part of a petition etc. Don't be a spammer - check it's true first.

• Hoax-Slayer - http://www.hoax-slayer.com/
• Vmyths (computer virus myths, hoaxes, urban legends, hysteria) - www.vmyths.com

Or just type the name of the virus/petition etc along with the word "hoax" into Google.

---