Your hoax or mine - the freedom to email it on

So many computer users seem convinced they must forward all kinds of information they receive via email–real or not. After-all, isn’t it the civilized thing to do when you get email from a friend about a new crisis or calamity to pass it on, and on and on? Instructions to forward the questionable missive seem so urgent! Do this now to prevent a rampant new worm or virus from gorging on your address book or your hard drive. Failure to pass this on could result in a national emergency, don’t be fooled this is the real thing. Right.

Add your name to this list and send to eight friends to see your prayers answered, money falling from the sky and on and on. Today’s chain letters have made their way from the old stamped envelope with a handwritten plea to the quick as lighting broadband highway.

Sign up now or your cell phone will be clogged with spam and telemarketers. This is your bank asking for an update, please supply us with your account number and social security number–identity theft is on the rise.

A couple of suggestions before you drive everyone in your address book crazy. If it seems to be too good, or too crazy to be true, it probably is. When in doubt, check it out. There are a number of good sites to check out the hoaxes, urban legends and chain letters that keep on coming. Play detective before your friends block you or report you as spam. It is the civilized thing to do.

Below is an updated version of an old hoax from http://www.stiller.com/hoaxes

The Guts to say JESUS Hoax

The Guts to say 'Jesus' hoax first appeared late in 1998. It died out for a while and has now made a huge resurgence. It is currently one of our most common virus hoaxes. There is very little that is new in this hoax; it is mostly rehash of prior hoaxes. Here is the beginning of this hoax: VIRUS WARNING !!!!!!! If you receive an email titled It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus,' Do Not Open it. It will erase everything on your hard drive. Forward this letter out to as many people as you can. This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; please share it with everyone that might access the Internet. Once again, pass this along to EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. From this point on, the hoax continues Also, do not open or even look at any mail that says RETURNED OR UNABLE TO DELIVER. This virus will attach itself to your computer components and render them useless Immediately delete any mail items that say this. Now the hoax tries to claim some legitimacy by referring to AOL: AOL has said that this is a very dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time. Please practice cautionary measures and forward this to all your online friends ASAP. There is no such thing as a virus with no remedy. And yet again we see the classic hoax; a request to send this to all your on-line friends and family. Anytime you see this in an email, you can assume that the message is a hoax! There is a recent variation on the above hoax that does some further appeals to authority in an attempt to add legitimacy to the hoax. This version of the hoax begins: I have verified this from an internet hoax verification site. This one is real. Awareness is everything.. This one has been verified by GE corp IT group. Please note that checking with a hoax site (such as the one you are on now) will show ONLY the most common hoaxes. No site can list every hoax (there are hundreds of hoaxes that never get wide distribution). The fact that a hoax is listed does not mean it's legitimate. The hoax then continues along the lines of the original version: It appears to be real. All Email users, If you receive an email titled It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus DO NOT open it. It will erase everything on your hard drive. Forward this letter out to as many people as you can. This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; please share it with everyone that might access the internet. Once again, pass this along to EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. Also, do not open or even look at any mail that says RETURNED OR UNABLE TO DELIVER. This virus will attach itself to your computer components and render them useless.