By Steve Bass, PC World
These online spoofs and shams have made the rounds on Web sites and
through e-mail. Perhaps you even believed one or two of them yourself.
Whether they take the form of a comic image of a giant cat or a
desperate plea from a sick child, chain e-mail messages and Internet frauds are
elements of the online landscape that we've all encountered. No topic is off
limits: a medical warning, a promise of free money, or a believably (or
shoddily) Photoshopped image. But at the end of the day, they're just elaborate
hoaxes or clever pranks--and we've collected 25 of the most infamous ones ever
to have graced the Internet or our inboxes.
desperate plea from a sick child, chain e-mail messages and Internet frauds are
elements of the online landscape that we've all encountered. No topic is off
limits: a medical warning, a promise of free money, or a believably (or
shoddily) Photoshopped image. But at the end of the day, they're just elaborate
hoaxes or clever pranks--and we've collected 25 of the most infamous ones ever
to have graced the Internet or our inboxes.
Though some of these deceptions originated years ago, the originals--and dozens of variants--continue to make the rounds. If you keep a patient vigil over your e-mail, you too may eventually spot a message urging you to FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!! And if you haven't had enough when you finish reading this article, take a hoax test at the Museum of Hoaxes, and then hop over to Snopes, the premier myth-dispelling site for coverage of zillions of other falsifications.
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Sound Off: Have you ever been fooled by a Web hoax?
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Sound Off: Have you ever been fooled by a Web hoax?
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Hoaxes 1 Through 5
From the supposed last photo taken at the top of the World Trade Center to the endlessly revised request for assistance from a Nigerian functionary, here are our top five Web and e-mail hoaxes.
From the supposed last photo taken at the top of the World Trade Center to the endlessly revised request for assistance from a Nigerian functionary, here are our top five Web and e-mail hoaxes.
Quite possibly the most famous hoax picture ever, this gruesome idea of a joke traveled around the Web and made a grand tour of e-mail inboxes everywhere soon after the tragedy of September 11. It depicts a tourist standing on the observation deck of one of the World Trade Center towers, unknowingly posing for a picture as an American Airlines plane approaches in the background.
At first glance it appears to be real, but if you examine
certain details, you'll see that
it's a
craftily modified image. For starters, the plane that struck the WTC was
a wide-body Boeing 767; the one in the picture is a smaller 757. The approach
of the plane in the picture is from the north, yet the building it would have
hit--the North tower--didn't have an outdoor observation deck. Furthermore, the
South tower's outdoor deck didn't open until 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, more than
half an hour after the first plane struck the WTC. The picture is a hoax,
through and through--and not a particularly amusing one, under the
circumstances.
certain details, you'll see that
it's a
craftily modified image. For starters, the plane that struck the WTC was
a wide-body Boeing 767; the one in the picture is a smaller 757. The approach
of the plane in the picture is from the north, yet the building it would have
hit--the North tower--didn't have an outdoor observation deck. Furthermore, the
South tower's outdoor deck didn't open until 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, more than
half an hour after the first plane struck the WTC. The picture is a hoax,
through and through--and not a particularly amusing one, under the
circumstances.
Image courtesy of Snopes.com.
This gem had its roots in reality. It all began in 1989, when nine-year-old cancer patient Craig Shergold thought of a way to achieve his dream of getting into the Guinness Book of World Records. Craig asked people to send greeting cards, and boy, did they. By 1991, 33 million greeting cards had been sent, far surpassing the prior record. Ironically, however, the Guinness World Records site doesn't contain any mention of Craig Sherwood or a "most greeting cards received" record, presumably because the fine folks at the site don't want to encourage anyone to try to break his mark. (Astonishingly, Guinness doesn't have an entry for world's stoutest person, either, but it does honor the World's Largest Tankard of Beer.)
Fortunately, doctors succeeded in
removing the tumor, and Craig is now a healthy adult, but his appeal for cards
has turned into
the hoax that won't
die. Variations on the theme include a sick girl dying of cancer, and a
little boy with leukemia whose dying wish is to start an eternal chain letter.
A recent iteration tells a tragic tale of a girl who supposedly was horribly
burned in a fire at WalMart, and then claims that
AOL will pay all
of her medical bills if only if you forward this e-mail to EVERYONE YOU
KNOW!!! Okay, enough already.
removing the tumor, and Craig is now a healthy adult, but his appeal for cards
has turned into
the hoax that won't
die. Variations on the theme include a sick girl dying of cancer, and a
little boy with leukemia whose dying wish is to start an eternal chain letter.
A recent iteration tells a tragic tale of a girl who supposedly was horribly
burned in a fire at WalMart, and then claims that
AOL will pay all
of her medical bills if only if you forward this e-mail to EVERYONE YOU
KNOW!!! Okay, enough already.
Image courtesy of
Snopes.com.
Snopes.com.
3. Bill Gates Money Giveaway (1997)
No, it's true. I thought it was a scam, but it happened to a buddy of mine. It seems that Microsoft is testing some new program for tracing e-mail, and the company needs volunteers to help try the thing out. He forwarded me an e-mail that he received from Microsoft--and get this, from Bill Gates himself! Two weeks later, as a reward for participating, my pal received a check for thousands of dollars! Sure he did. Another version of this hoax claims that AOL's tracking service is offering a cash reward. Tell you what--when you get your check, send me 10 percent as a finder's fee, okay?
No, it's true. I thought it was a scam, but it happened to a buddy of mine. It seems that Microsoft is testing some new program for tracing e-mail, and the company needs volunteers to help try the thing out. He forwarded me an e-mail that he received from Microsoft--and get this, from Bill Gates himself! Two weeks later, as a reward for participating, my pal received a check for thousands of dollars! Sure he did. Another version of this hoax claims that AOL's tracking service is offering a cash reward. Tell you what--when you get your check, send me 10 percent as a finder's fee, okay?
4. Five-Cent E-Mail Tax (1999)
"Dear Internet Subscriber," the e-mail starts. "The Government of the United States is quietly pushing through legislation that will affect your use of the Internet." It goes on to reveal that "Bill 602P" will authorize the U.S. Postal Service to assess a charge of five cents for every e-mail sent. Not a bad way to cut down on the number of dopey e-mail chain letters and lame jokes people let loose on the world. But credulous curse averters and connoisseurs of boffo laffs can relax: This e-mail alert, which popped up in 1999 and comes back for a visit every year or so, just isn't true. Still, it sounded plausible enough to fool Hillary Clinton during a 2000 debate when she was running for the Senate.
"Dear Internet Subscriber," the e-mail starts. "The Government of the United States is quietly pushing through legislation that will affect your use of the Internet." It goes on to reveal that "Bill 602P" will authorize the U.S. Postal Service to assess a charge of five cents for every e-mail sent. Not a bad way to cut down on the number of dopey e-mail chain letters and lame jokes people let loose on the world. But credulous curse averters and connoisseurs of boffo laffs can relax: This e-mail alert, which popped up in 1999 and comes back for a visit every year or so, just isn't true. Still, it sounded plausible enough to fool Hillary Clinton during a 2000 debate when she was running for the Senate.
5. Nigerian 419 E-Mail Scam (2000)
"DEAR SIR," the e-mail starts. "FIRSTLY I MUST FIRST SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION; LET ME START BY INTRODUCING MYSELF PROPERLY..." I'm sure you've received one of these--a confidential, urgent e-mail message promising you a reward of mucho dinero for helping this person convey money abroad. All you need do in return is entrust your name and bank account number to the government bureaucrat (or his uncle, aunt, or cousin, the ostensible "credit offficer with the union bank of Nigeria plc (uba) Benin branch") who needs your help.
"DEAR SIR," the e-mail starts. "FIRSTLY I MUST FIRST SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION; LET ME START BY INTRODUCING MYSELF PROPERLY..." I'm sure you've received one of these--a confidential, urgent e-mail message promising you a reward of mucho dinero for helping this person convey money abroad. All you need do in return is entrust your name and bank account number to the government bureaucrat (or his uncle, aunt, or cousin, the ostensible "credit offficer with the union bank of Nigeria plc (uba) Benin branch") who needs your help.
It's the Nigerian con, also known as an Advanced Fee Fraud or 419 scam (so called because of the section number of the Nigerian criminal code that applies to it). Ancestors of these scams appeared in the 1980s, when the media of choice were letters or faxes--and they're still wildly successful at snagging people. In fact, Oprah recently featured a victim of the Nigerian scam on her show. And if you think that smart, educated folks couldn't possibly fall for it, you'll be surprised when you read " The Perfect Mark," a New Yorker magazine article profiling a Massachusetts psychotherapist who was duped--and lost a fortune.
To see how the hoax works, visit
Scamorama, a fascinating site
that features a progression of e-mail messages stringing along 419 scammers,
sometimes for months at a time. Finally, check out the
3rd Annual
Nigerian E-Mail Conference, an absolutely perfect spoof.
Scamorama, a fascinating site
that features a progression of e-mail messages stringing along 419 scammers,
sometimes for months at a time. Finally, check out the
3rd Annual
Nigerian E-Mail Conference, an absolutely perfect spoof.
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