Forwarding Emails: Do Your Homework!

Forwarding Emails: Do Your Homework!

Every day I see email forwarded by someone trying to warn me of some new threat or with some “interesting news”. unfortunately most of these types of forwarded emails are false. In most cases it is harmless forwarding of emails with the only drawback being extra junk in your inbox and floating around the Internet.

In other cases, these emails themselves are a threat. Some emails will inform you of a “threat” and give you steps to take to “fix” your computer or “remove” the threat. Following the “advice” in these emails can cause problems in some cases.

Please do NOT forward these types of emails or follow the instructions in them without first doing your homework.

Do a search on the “information” you received. Below are a few good links to sites with information on hoaxes, myths and real threats.

There are many sites that will help you find the truth about the emails you get, I like these ones.

TruthOrFiction.com

The Truth or Fiction site lists emails and topics and gives you “Truth” or“Fiction” information from their research. It can be quite amusing to just browse some of the information they have.

This site is well organized so you can select topics or just do a simple search.

F-Secure

F-Secure is a European based international computer security company. The information and tools available are very useful for your security.

Hoax Alphabetical listing

Hoax Search