© copyright Timothy Wallace.  All Rights Reserved.  [Last Update: 26 February, 2000]

HEY!  How about some common sense and personal responsibility in dealing with e-mail messages that claim to be “urgent” and plea to be passed on to “everyone you know”??

If more people would follow these basic rules—and think before clicking that (much abused) “forward” button—the shame and ill will generated by so many heavily circulated lies would be significantly diminished, and email in general would retain more credibility as a legitimate method of communication.

1. If you don’t personally know or can’t personally confirm the originator of a message that has been forwarded to you, exercise some healthy skepticism and don’t forward it!
2. If you aren’t able (or willing) to verify the truthfulness of a sensationalistic message that has been forwarded to you, don’t forward it!
3. If the message claiming to be “urgent” has been forwarded to you, exercise some healthy skepticism and don’t forward it!
4. If the message promises you some unbelievable reward for forwarding it to any number of people, don’t believe it—and don’t forward it!
5. If the message pleads with you to “forward this to everyone you know,” make sure that you DON’T!
6. If you’re still tempted to pass it on, carefully check out these websites:

Current Net Hoaxes, Rumors, Urban Legends, and other digital lies: http://urbanlegends.about.com/ Snopes: http://snopes.com/ Rob Rosenberger’s Computer Virus Myths: http://www.vmyths.com/ U.S. Department of Energy CIAC Security: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/

7. And hey, if you find it at one of the above websites, instead of forwarding the lie, expose it by sending a “reply to all” message telling the sender and all his/her prospective (if unwitting) suckers that it’s a hoax—and exactly where they can find out for themselves!