Netlore: Chain Letters: Urban Legends: MMF
Shocking as it seems to some of us, a whole lot of people--smart people,even--are not accustomed to thinking critically. Nor do they seen to realize that getting information via the Internet is not quite the same ballgame as getting it from your daily newspaper. They read the Gates chain letter, react viscerally without thinking about it, and click that "Forward" button, vaguely hoping Bill Gates might really send them a thousand bucks."
...David Emery, guide at Urban Legends and Folklore
The American Cancer Society is greatly disturbed by reports of a fraudulent chain letter
circulating on the internet which lists the American Cancer Society as a "corporate sponsor" but
which has in no way been endorsed by the American Cancer Society. There are several
variations of this letter in circulation, including one which has a picture of "Tickle Me Elmo" and
one that is essentially a paraphrase of the original letter.
As far as the American Cancer Society can determine, the story of Jessica Mydek is completely unsubstantiated. No fundraising efforts are being made by the American Cancer Society using
chain letters of any kind. Furthermore, the email address in the letter is inactive. Any messages to the American Cancer Society should be instead sent through the American Cancer Society website.
This particular chain letter with its heartbreaking story appears to have struck an emotional chord with online users. Although we are very concerned that the American Cancer Society's name has been used to manipulate the online public, we applaud the good intentions of all who participated in this letter. We are pleased to note that there are so many caring individuals out there and hope that they will find another way to support cancer research. Jessica Mydek's story, whether true or false, is representative of that of many cancer patients who benefit daily from the efforts of legitimate cancer organizations nationwide.
"Today, with the click of a button, a message can be forwarded to hundreds of people at no apparent cost to the sender. If each
of the so-called good Samaritans sends the letter on to only ten other people...the ninth resending results in a billion e-mail messages, thereby, clogging the network and interfering with the receiving of legitimate e-mail messages. Factor in the time lost reading and deleting all these messages and you see a real cost to organizations and individuals from these seemingly innocuous messages. Not only are these messages time consuming and costly, they may also be damaging to a person's or organization's reputation as in the case of the Jessica Mydek and the American Cancer Society chain letters."(Computer Incident Advisory Capability, Dept. of Energy)
I would like to suggest rather than using email chain letters we can support the good work of the ACS by making a donation: 1-800-ACS-2345, or on their website.
Read all about this collecting for cash gone mad, and why it is so hard to get people to stop ripping the tabs off soda (pop) cans for a "good cause". It is a case of good intentions gone wild. A million tabs are worth about $500. if you can find a place that will take them. Collecting a million pennies will get you $10,000. Which one is the better bet? The money can be donated to the National Kidney Foundation. Read all about it, "Keeping Tabs On It," before you decide to collect tabs. Bottom Line: recycle the whole can and donate the money to the National Kidney Foundation. Or, think about donating something really helpful, like any unwanted vehicles.
Have you received the PBS/NPR Petition that asks you to sign it to "save" PBS/NPR. They are worthwhile organizations, and it is human nature to want to do something to help. But, before you "sign" your name (which will go around on the Internet forever!), and send this on to others, just take a moment to think it through. How can this actually "save" anything this way? A signature on email is worthless. If you really want to do some good, send them a donation.
There are some good places on the Internet to read all about how this petition got started, and what misery it has caused, and how they are unable to stop the reincarnations that surface from time to time. The only way to stop them is for people not to send the petitions on to other people. Regardless of the subject, if the message asks you to pass this on to others, beware! Just say, "No!" Don't do it!
One more thought on this from Tourbus: "Email petitions are a spammer's dream: they give the spammer a new list of email addresses he can cut and paste into his mass mailing lists (that's right, folks -- sign an email petition, and chances are you could soon be swimming in spam)."
The definition of a chain letter is "a letter directing the recipient to send out multiple copies so that its circulation increases in a geometric progression as long as the instructions are carried out." In just nine steps sending out a chain letter to 10 people if it continues will result in one million letters/emails, it is simple math to see the mess caused by forwarding these via email to all your friends.
A typical chain letter usually has these parts:
These Chain Letters are now posing as Petitions, Jokes, Friendship (Week) Letters, and even Round Robins. Don't be fooled!
But, even the most intelligent people can be "caught" if the proper buttons are pushed. Kurt Vonnegut's wife is reported to believe that he wrote the infamous "MIT: Wear Sunscreen: Graduation Speech." And, it was very good, and was all over the Internet! Most of us have gotten "caught" at one time or another: just think before sending out emails. But, when in doubt, don't send it out. There are many places on the Internet to check out what is currently circulating, and I check them out from time to time to keep up-to-date.
You might want to bookmark these for easy reference:
The reviews for the movie have not been too good, so buyer beware! It has been suggested that you can read about Urban Legends (ULs) on several different web sites (my favorites sites are listed above). They are, ultimately, much more entertaining, and best of all they are FREE!
If you have been on a Mailing List for any time at all, you have most likely gotten posts about outrageous acts, some incredible
and some very sweet stories. Most of these are ULs, also known as little morality plays. Nice or interesting the first time around, then it gets boring to read them again, and again, and...
These are just two of the newest or latest reincarnations of some ULs or email chain letters that I received, checked out, but did not send on to anyone:
They are interesting to read about on these web sites. You get better information, more complete facts and research, and they can be updated. This is certainly the responsible way to present these stories, IMHO.
From the Gullibility Virus Warning ***********************************************
"This message is sent in compliance of the new e-mail bill: SECTION 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) of s. 1618"
Makes it easier to get rid of this junk mail by deleting these messages right away without even having to read them. To find out more about the MMF emails, you can check out the MMF Website. It is amazing how many people feel they can actually make money with these pyramid schemes.
(it helps to be able to laugh at yourself)
This message is so important, we're sending it
anonymously! Forward it to all your friends
right away! Don't think about it! This is not
a chain letter! This story is true! Don't
check it out! This story is so timely, there
is no date on it! This story is so important,
we're using lots of exclamation points! Lots!!
For every message you forward to some
unsuspecting person, the Home for the
Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten cents to
itself. (If you wonder how the Home will know
you are forwarding these messages all over
creation, you're obviously thinking too much.)
ACT NOW! DON'T DELAY! LIMITED TIME ONLY!
NOT SOLD IN ANY STORE!
The Darwin Awards
Read all about the winners, and near winners.
Make Money Fast (MMF)
Jann's Index