Scams and Urban Legends

By Anonymous -
By now you can probably recognize an Internet scam in your e-mail inbox. But, sometimes the text is so persuasive that you consider forwarding it to one hundred of your closest colleagues and friends. How can you tell if it's for real or not? Do a bit of research at one of these sites:

  1. Hoaxbusters: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
  2. Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp

To discern whether you received a computer virus, search:

  1. Symantec: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
  2. Vmyths: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html

And if you get spam e-mail that you think is deceptive, forward it to spam@uce.gov. The Federal Trade Commission uses the spam stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive e-mail.

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