Today, for the upmteenth time, someone I barely know forwarded to me this hysterical virus warning: “Microsoft says this is the most destructive virus ever! McAfee just discovered it yesterday! It’s wiping out hard drives willy nilly, according to a broadcast on CNN yesterday! Do your friends and associates a favor and send this message to everyone in your address book immediately!”
Here’s a little tip from your Uncle Mark, who loves you: any email message that says, “Pass this on to everyone in your address book immediately!” is very likely a hoax.
Second, most emails that claim Microsoft and CNN are making panicked announcements are very likely hoaxes. (It’s also easy to check such claims: go to Google News and do a search. It takes less than a second to verify — or debunk — such claims.)
And, finally, here’s today’s email etiquette tip: anyone on the verge of passing something along to everyone has the responsibility to do a little research first:
1. Your first stop should be Snopes.com, the ultimate warehouse of all things dubious and hoaxy. (Here’s their entry on the “most destructive virus ever”.)
2. Try Google. (In this case, a search on “most destructive virus ever” pulls up dozens of pages.)
These two steps alone will save everyone in your address book a lot of stress, staunch the flow of misinformation, and prevent you from having to send out a red-faced “Ooops — I was hoaxed!” email later this afternoon.
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