The Top Urban Legends, Internet Hoaxes and Pranks

The Internet is many things, and one of those things is a conduit for the spread of urban legends, hoaxes and even pranks.  My wife, Peggy Robin, and I moderate a 5,100-member neighborhood email list in Washington, DC and we see a lot urban legends pass through our neck of cyberspace.  Over the years we've developed a keen sense for spotting urban legends and we do our best to thwart them.  

When somebody tried to post a message warning neighbors that the "Swiffer Wetjet" leaves a toxic residue that can kill dogs by destroying their livers, our hoax-detector went up.  We did some quick research on our favorite website for revealing urban legends, Snopes and found that the Swiffer Wetjet isn't any more dangerous than any other floor cleaner.  We wrote to the person to let her know that her message wouldn't go through to the list since it was an urban legend.  Instead of thanking us for preventing her from embarrassing herself, she emailed back and said, "I will be sure to tell our vet who cared for our dying pet your perspective."  She was so wedded to this story, that she felt she had to back up her story with a made up personal experience.  

Not only do a lot of people believe Internet hoaxes, but they believe them so strongly that it's difficult to convince them of the truth.

Just released is the list of the Top 25 Web Hoaxes and Pranks.  On the top 25 are five-cents-per-email-tax, the ubiquitous Nigerian 491 scam and you've-got-a-virus-on- your-computer (which causes you to delete an important file on your Windows PC.)  Many of these hoaxes have been circulating for years and years.  Most hoaxes just clutter our inboxes.  But some, like the Nigerian scam really hurt people.  In one of the varients of this scam, victims are asked to help people move money out of a war-torn or troubled part of the world by providing their bank account information as a safe haven. Many people do.

Before the Internet, the Nigerian 419 scam was perpetuated by fax.

Some Internet mavens have taken it upon themselves to combat 419 scammers through a technique called scambaiting, where they turn the scammer's greed against them.  Scambaiting isn't for the faint of heart, because you're dealing with people of low morals and who may be dangerous.

Healthy skepticism is an important component of being part of the Internet community.  Without that skepticism you'll waste time forwarding so-called urgent bulletins that turn out to be pranks or urban legends, or worse.