*** ANSWERMAN INTERNET EXTRA *** For the week of November 4, 1996 This is the weekly newsletter for the community of Internet users on America Online. Come see what's new at keyword ANSWERMAN. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, scroll down to the end of this message for instructions. *This week, AnswerMan's Focus is Net Scams, Hoaxes, Mistruths and Legends* =*=*= IN THIS ISSUE =*=*= AnswerMan's Update -- It just ain't so Eagle's Exploits -- Protect yourself and your money Upcoming Weekly Focus & Chats -- What's coming down the pipeline? The End -- How to contact us or unsubscribe =*=*= WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK WITH ANSWERMAN =*=*= Go to keyword: For: ANSWERMAN Internet message board, daily tips, other good stuff AM FOCUS Links to useful sites organized by topic AM CHAT Read transcripts of Internet chats that you missed AM GLOSSARY RTFM to decrypt that Internet jargon NET HELP Get quick help for your Internet questions =*=*= ANSWERMAN'S UPDATE - It just ain't so =*=*= Greetings once again, Internauts. Can you believe it's November already? The elections are over, Turkey Day (or in my house, "Meatless Tofu Faux-Turkey Day" :-) is just around the corner, and the AnswerMan area quietly celebrated its first birthday recently. This week's AnswerMan focus is Internet scams, hoaxes, mistruths and legends. As your know, there's an enormous amount of great information on the Interent--reliable information from reliable sources. But it's utterly important to remember that everything you read on the Internet is not gospel. You need to judge the information you get from the Internet in the same careful manner that you judge information that you get from other media. You're walking down the street and you see a headline: THE ALIENS ARE COMING. Are you more likely to believe it if it's on the cover of the New York Times, or on a leaflet someone hands to you on a street corner? In real life, we know instinctively to consider the source of information. On the Internet, we don't always remember to do that. Because of the ease of communication that the Internet offers, it can be unwittingly used to spread rumors and hoaxes -- information that can get people all upset, but just ain't so. I'm going to list some of the most common legends that I see in Internet e-mail and newsgroups. None of them are true. *The $250 cookie recipe -- after having enjoyed a snack of cookies at Neiman-Marcus (or Mrs. Fields, the story varies,) a customer asked for the recipe and was told there would be a charge of "two-fifty" for it. Upon receiving the monthly charge card bill, the customer is shocked to realize they'd meant $250, not $2.50, and now in revenge is spreading the recipe to everyone for free. This isn't true, and furthermore the cookies the recipe makes aren't very good. *The "Good Times" e-mail virus. This one gets spread far and wide because it plays on our fears of losing computer data. The story is that a virus called "Good Times" is carried within an e-mail message. Just reading a message with the words "Good Times" in the subject line will supposedly erase your hard drive, or even destroy your computer's processor. It's a hoax. You can't possibly get a computer virus just by reading an e-mail message. (For more details, read the Good Times Virus Hoax FAQ at http://www.nsm.smcm.edu/News/GTHoax.html) *Craig Shergold needs your get well cards. Craig Shergold was a boy who was dying of cancer. He wanted to get in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most get well cards. People sent him cards, Craig won the world record on 1991... and people kept sending him cards. Craig recovered from his cancer years ago. He really does not want cards any more, and neither does his post office. *FCC Modem Tax. Every so often someone posts a dire warning that the FCC is considering a tax on modems and online services. The warning encourages you to tell your friends so they can take political action. It's a hoax. If you'll notice, the warnings don't include a date or a bill number. *Make Money Fast! The worst of the batch. Devised by David Rhodes in 1987 or 1988, "Make Money Fast" is an electronic version of a chain letter pyramid scheme. You're supposed to send money to the ten people on the list, then add your name to the list and repost the chain letter, committing federal wire fraud in the process. It's not only illegal, but mathematically improbable that you'll make any money, slow or fast. (For more information, read the Make Money Fast FAQ at http://www.sanctum.com.au/josh/mmf/) When you receive a harried e-mail or Usenet post that says "forward this to all your friends!" and implores you to do something (be it making cookies, sending a card, making money fast or whatever) consider the source! Is the message signed and dated? Are there details you can use to verify the information (such as addresses, bill numbers, phone numbers...) Do you know the person from who the mail is coming? If the answer to any of these questions is "no," take the message with a huge grain of salt. You'll find more information about scams, online and off, at keyword AM FOCUS. Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: AnswerMan Focus AnswerMan Good Times Virus Hoax FAQ Make Money Fast FAQ =*=*= Eagle's Exploits -- protect yourself and your money =*=*= by Aminie D. Elsberry (CJ Eagle) I dusted off my favorite search engine (AltaVista) and found a smattering of sites that dealt with this subject, but all contained a vast amount of information that will help you protect yourself and your money. The first site I came across was the National Fraud Information Center at http://www.fraud.com. NFIC is a project of the National Consumers League, America's oldest nonprofit consumer organization. At this site you can obtain information on telemarketing fraud, internet fraud (what is it, what's been reported, how to report it yourself), learning to protect yourself and your hard earned dollars, and links to other agencies on the internet such as State Attorneys General and other resources. There is also a special section devoted to the Senior Netizens among us and an NFIC daily report. If you need to speak to someone at NFIC via voice (what's that??) there is even a toll free number listed. The Better Business Bureau is also online and has a site at http://www.council.bbb.org. Here you have access to locations of BBB's in your community, the latest consumer warnings and other news from the BBB, consumer buying guides and business publications. You can also file complaints online and find out how BBB's help resolve marketplace disputes. Also posted at this site is their snail mail address (what your postal carrier delivers ), an e-mail address, and a phone number to contact the organization directly. And if you need an additional site to post a complaint, check out the National Consumer Complaint Center at http://seamless.com/alexanderlaw/nccc/ sponsored by the Alexander Law Firm. The site is offered to provide a central location to report fraud on almost any consumer product you can think of including automobiles, cosmetics, veterinary drugs, pesticides, consumer products, computers, and internet fraud. Here you can complete an online form giving information on the date of the incident and description, among other pertinent information, and that is then forwarded by NCCC to the appropriate agency. Check out the companion site at http://consumerlawpage.com/ where there are over 100 consumer information brochures and articles. One common theme among all these sites--if it seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true. Protect yourself with knowledge and these scam artists won't get the best of you. Finally, if all this talk about fraud has gotten you down, check out these sites devoted to urban legends...you know, those stories that you hear that sound true, but are just a little too unbelivable. Get the skinny on music urban legends (True or False: Michael Jackson's phone number can be found in the bar code on his Thriller album?) at http://www.jetlink.net/~snopes/music/music.htm, Disney legends (Jessica Rabbit briefly appears naked in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) at http://www.best.com/~snopes/disney/disney.shtml and college legends (A student whose roommate dies automatically receives all A's?) at http://www.jetlink.net/~snopes/college/college.htm. Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: National Fraud Information Center Better Business Bureau National Consumer Complaint Center Urban legends =*=*= THE WEEKLY FOCUS & CHAT =*=*= Every week, AnswerMan focuses on a particular facet of using the Internet. Here's what's going on this week. Live chat on Sunday, November 10, 6PM ET -- Net Scams, Hoaxes, Mistruths and Legends. The boy with who wants get-well cards? The $250 cookie recipe? The "Good Times" e-mail virus? This hour you'll learn why these net.legends are untrue, how they got started, how to prevent their further spread, and how to judge for yourself real information from hoaxes. We'll also take a hard look at look at those MAKE MONEY FAST posts, "good luck" chain letters, and other Internet scams, lies and oddities. And, here are the Weekly Focus topics we'll be covering in the near future: Nov 11 - Nov 17: Investment Planning Nov 18 - Nov 24: Introduction to files and FTP Nov 25 - Dec 1: Internet for Travelers Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Go to the AnswerMan Chat. AnswerMan Focus. =*=*= THE END =*=*= That's all for this week. Got comments about this newsletter? We want to hear them! Send 'em to AnswerMan. The e-mail address is "AnswerMan@aol.com". There are two easy ways to unsubscribe yourself from the AnswerMan mailing list. You can use either. #1: send an e-mail message -- To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Body: UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN #2: If you are a Windows AOL user -- Go to keyword ANSWERMAN Press the 'Internet Extra Newsletter' button Press 'Unsubscribe'. Here's a direct link to the unsubscribe page for AOL 3.0 users: Go to the unsubscribe page. Copyright 1996 by America Online. All rights reserved. Made from 100% recycled electrons.