Urban legends are stories that are either funny and/or contain horrifying content that may or may not be true. These stories usually have a morality or safety theme. They spread quickly, and often have many different variants.
Most urban legends are false — but some are true.
Email urban legends and email hoaxes usually tell recipients to forward the email to everyone they know. In fact, that’s one of the tell-tale signs that you have a false urban legend or hoax!
The following is an example of a hoax that has become an urban legend:
Microsoft/AOL/Intel Email Beta Test
I’m an attorney, and I know the law. This thing is for real. Rest assured AOL/Intel/Microsoft will follow through with their promises for fear of facing a multimillion dollar class action suit similar to the one filed by Pepsico against General Electric not too long ago.
I’ll be damned if we’re all going to help them out with their e-mail beta test without getting a little something for our time. My brother’s girlfriend got in on this a few months ago. When I went to visit him for the Baylor/UT game she showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44 and was stamped “Paid In Full”.
Like I said before, I know the law, and this is for real. If you don’t believe me you can email her at jpiltman@baylor.edu. She’s eager to answer any questions you guys might have. Intel and AOL are now discussing a merger which would make them the largest Internet company and in an effort make sure that AOL remains the most widely used program, Intel and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.
When you forward this e-mail to friends, Intel can and will track it if you are a Microsoft Windows user for a two week time period. For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $203.15, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $156.29 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $17.65.
Within two weeks,Intel will contact you for your address and then send you a check. I thought this was a scam myself, but a friend of my good friend’s Aunt Patricia, who works at Intel actually got a check for $4,543.23 by forwarding this e-mail. Try it, what have you got to lose???
Aisha Haynes
Administrative Assistant
National Policy Association
(202) 884-7640
Editors Note: It is technically impossible to track forwarded email and no company does business this way.
To see more urban legends and hoaxes, visit www.scambusters.com.