[218] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] The Immortal E-Mail: Detecting Fake "Chain Letter"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Fri Sep 15 13:21:49 2006
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Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:48:21 -0700
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Greetings. One of the more annoying aspects of e-mail these days
is the continuously increasing volume of "chain letter" messages of
all sorts, which almost inevitably contain content which is
fraudulent, criminal, propagandistic, misleading, or just plain
garbage. Some of these messages propagate for many years, with a sort
of electronic immortality.
Ironically, most of these messages are passed along by individuals
who believe that they're doing a favor for their correspondents by
forwarding onward an "important" note that is assumed to be truthful
and useful.
These messages waste resources and people's time in the best case,
and can result in major financial losses and other serious negative
effects in the worst.
A few simple, interrelated guidelines can help anyone to determine
whether a message falls into this "chain letter" category *before*
they decide to forward it onward.
First, consider the subject. If a message contains a dramatic warning,
alarming story, emotional appeal, or other material that seems like
the sort of information that deserves mass media exposure, but for
some reason you haven't heard about it from the media, your alarm
bells should go off.
Contrary to the beliefs of some media detractors, print and broadcast
media isn't in the business of suppressing information -- they're in
the business of maximizing the numbers of eyeballs and ears that are
exposed to their work, and compelling stories of all types are their
bread and butter. Ask yourself why the material you read in a chain
letter message has somehow been "missed" by the media if the message
is really so important and on the level? The answer is -- the vast
majority of the time -- that much or all of the material in the
chain letter is inaccurate and unverifiable.
Keep in mind that a chain letter message doesn't have to be asking
for money. In many cases, these messages are basically propaganda,
pushing particular political, religious, or other points of view
based on totally faked or manipulated information, often with a
dramatic emotional punch. Because such messages can strike a deep
chord in many readers, they often are driven to pass them along
immediately, even though they've made no effort to verify that the
message content is accurate in any way. Chain letter messages
often arrive from senders that you know personally, which tends
to give the messages even more appeal.
This brings us to the second easy test for chain letter messages.
When you receive a message that contains a long series of forwarding
headers -- seemingly endless arrays of To: and CC: entries,
sometimes comprising much of the total text of the message -- you
should immediately be suspicious. This sort of forwarding pattern
is suggestive that the information in the message has a high
likelihood of being false in at least some important aspects.
This relates directly to the test I mentioned earlier -- it's
indicative that the story has not been disseminated by mass media
and is not widely available on reputable Web sites, so it's being
passed around from person to person. Like that previous test, this
"header test" is also not a fullproof method to determine whether or
not a message is legit -- but it's a big help in the process.
Finally, when you suspect a message, do a little research before
sending it onward. A few minutes with your favorite search engine
will usually quickly expose many chain letters, since they tend
to have been discussed widely by previous recipients. Simply search
on some of the names or other key words in the message. Visiting
"urban legend" sites such as http://www.snopes.com can also be
very useful in these situations.
Hopefully these suggestions will be of some value when it comes to
helping you decide whether or not to forward onward that next piece of
dramatic and compelling e-mail that arrives in your inbox.
Feel free to forward this message onward -- but please don't turn it
into a chain letter!
Take care, all.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
- International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
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