Things are not always as they seem

By: Karen McGreevey
Submitted: 2008-03-10 19:44:44
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It’s happened again!

In the past week or so I’ve received two, separate, “forwarded”, “forwarded” (ad infinitum) emails from people “I think” I know—and if I’d look close enough I’d probably find a recognizable name or two; one email alluded to a “killer virus” poised to attack, the other to a “dying child”, complete with picture!

You know the kind; the ones that can cause all kinds of anguish and distress to the head or the heart—and for very different reasons.

The email that discussed the “virus of all viruses” apparently has the potential to latch onto your email and that of all your friends and colleagues and kin, too, before it might burn out your hard drive. If you make the wrong move and click on the link to open an attachment! Or it may even poof in your face. Strangely enough, this email included documentation that the ever-looming virus had been verified at snopes.com.

Of course the email about the dying child included a picture of the cutest, sweetest little girl, and, disturbingly to me, asked the “passers on” to add their name and town to the bottom of the email and then forward it to “everyone on your email list”.

Because, whoever originated the email wanted to see from how far around the world the email could go. It worked, too, since the email I received had people and locations listed in places like Africa, Australia, lots of the states in the United States, and Canada, too. In fact, the locations were too numerous and the pages of the email were too many to read through.

There also seemed to be a more “”sinister” reason—m-o-n-e-y, although I was not being solicited directly for my own funds.

The “buck stopped with me”

Because both of these email missives had somewhat of a false ring to and about them from what I’d read in recent years, I chose to delete them both without any other action. Except, to tell the person who sent them to me, who then felt bad!

I did, however, take a “little trip” afterward over to Google, my favorite search engine!

There, I learned that the specific virus “flavor of the day” warning was, in fact, false at that, and would not cause all, any or even a tiny smidgeon of the havoc mentioned in the email.

Nada! Zip!

And, the email about the little seven year old girl who was dying of cancer and a brain tumor was also a hoax. The sad, sad, sad thing about this hoax was that the narrative in the “chain letter” used a very popular charity/foundation as the benevolent “contributor of money every time the email was forwarded”. No wonder recipients were so many and all over the place.

In fact, if one were to check that Web site, you’d see a list of names of other “ill” children that have also been used in this fashion.

So what?

Well, this!

It’s easy to get caught up in such hype, and there’s rarely anything that plays on one’s alarm ringers and sympathy and empathy more than “doom and gloom” for what could or would happen.

It’s also unfortunate there are those in the big realm of the Internet who, for whatever reason, think it necessary or important to abuse the good will of others.

Thus, as watchful keepers of our Internet business, it’s imperative for us all to remain vigilant and mindful of the things that come our way—whether it’s via our email Inbox or some other means. Actually, it’s no secret some of the “invaders” could also reach us by such things as a download from a favorite Web site. Or, perhaps because we register for something at a Web site.

If it’s too--this …

I want to continue to be astute enough to be alert, and to recognize when something just doesn’t seem right if it’s made it to my Inbox or anywhere near my computer. For, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…it probably is something that requires us to take a few extra measures.

Because I’ve found, by its very nature, that an Internet business can be vulnerable it’s imperative to continue to remain vigilant.

And just for the record, like Scarlett, I’ll save any talk about the abundance of “email solicitations” from a specific country that ask me to use my bank account for what may be “unseemly“ activity--and the “toll free” calls from the “breathers”, for another day!

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