been created and is
maintained for general
use by the students in
Dr. Bobbert's classes.
The public is welcome.
No guarantees or
warranties, implied or
otherwise, and no
endorsements apply to
the data and information
contained herein. Dr.
Bobbert and the
Universities and Colleges
assume no responsibility
for financial or
emotional damage that
may be caused by either
the existence or use of
this information or by
errors or omissions in the
data or the associated
forms or html pages.
----
maintained for general
use by the students in
Dr. Bobbert's classes.
The public is welcome.
No guarantees or
warranties, implied or
otherwise, and no
endorsements apply to
the data and information
contained herein. Dr.
Bobbert and the
Universities and Colleges
assume no responsibility
for financial or
emotional damage that
may be caused by either
the existence or use of
this information or by
errors or omissions in the
data or the associated
forms or html pages.
----
an edited version of one of his insightful messages.
If a story sounds too good to be true – it probably is. Before pressing the forward button or opening an
embedded link it is a good practice [which I violate occasionally] to validate any story that seems to be too
good to be true or if I suspect might be a scam.
Some Internet/e-mail scams are fairly sophisticated. For example, twice in recent weeks I received an e-mail
that appears at first glance to be an authentic official Bank of America notice with the subject line "Military Bank
Alert - Your Services Has Expired." Apart from the red flag raised by the grammatical error in the subject line, I
did not have a "Military Bank" account with Bank of America. I suspected fraud, did not open the embedded link
["Click Here and proceed to the renewal of your online services."], and contacted BofA fraud department
immediately by e-mail and phone. The BofA representative I spoke with confirmed that this is an identity-theft
scam. I have since canceled my accounts with BofA because the bank encourages illegal immigration--but
that's another story.
Here is the list of websites that I go to when I wish to validate a story or check out suspected scams and
hoaxes--listed in the order in which I consult them:
snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/ [Best known and most comprehensive site. Snopes.com fact-checkers
are professional journalists who carefully research each story. Their work is excellent, but in my opinion they
tend to allow their liberal bias to influence their judgment on topics with political implications.]
HoaxBusters: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HoaxBustersHome.html
I like this one best for me.
· Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy
· Good starting point to check out suspected hoax/fraud
"Interspersed among the junk mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are dire warnings about
devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your system, and malicious software that can steal
the computer right off your desk. Added to that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other
items designed to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you know. Most all of these
messages are hoaxes or chain letters."
About.com: Urban Legends & Folklore: http://urbanlegends.about.com/ [Popular and reliable. Perhaps not as
comprehensive as snopes.com.]
ScamBusters.com [Urban Legends and Hoaxes Resource Center ]: http://www.scambusters.org/index.html
[Popular and reliable. "ScamBusters is an award winning free electronic newsletter (e-zine) to help people
protect themselves from Internet scams, misinformation and hype that are costing entrepreneurs a fortune."]
TruthOrFiction.com: http://www.truthorfiction.com/ [Popular and reliable. Perhaps less comprehensive than
snopes.com. and hopefully less biased.]
The AFU [alt.folklore.urban] & Urban Legend Archive: http://tafkac.org/ [Least comprehensive site.]
Purportal: Urban Legend Portal: http://purportal.com/; [Debunking bunk since 2001. Great search functions
and fact-checking resources. This site can quickly assist you in sorting the myths from the half-truths and the
actual facts. The site consists of database search engines to check keywords from e-mails you have received,
the latest headlines on hoaxes, special reports on 9-11 misinformation, and links to official and commercial
sites on fraud, hoaxes and scams. Search categories:
· Hoaxes and urban legends
o Snopes Urban Legends archives [keyword search]
o About.com Urban Legends [keyword search]
o CIAC Hoax Database [keyword search]
· Viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, malware
o Cert Computer Security Database [keyword search]
o Symantec [keyword search]
· Scams, fraud, and phishing
o Fraud Watch International [keyword search]
o Anti-Phishing Working Group [keyword search]
POW/MIA myths and hoaxes: www.miafacts.org
The American Press Institute's resource pages. A lot of useful information available at this site:
http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/toolbox/urban_legends_hoaxes_and_scams/
o Corporate Attacks and Misinformation
o Urban Legends/Fact-Checking
o Urban Legends, Hoaxes And Scams
o Consumer Scams
· http://www.americanpressinstitute.
org/pages/toolbox/urban_legends_hoaxes_and_scams/urban_legendsfactchecking/
· http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/toolbox/
Museum of Hoaxes: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/ This site is entertaining and provides interesting
information about stories that I did not find covered on the more popular sites. Categories include:
· Famous Hoaxes Throughout History
· Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes
· Tall-Tale Creatures
· Hoax Photo Tests
· Gullibility Tests
· [and several more]
McAfee Virus Hoax page: http://vil.nai.com/vil/hoaxes.aspx
Symantec Virus Hoax page: http://www.symantec.
com/enterprise/security_response/threatexplorer/risks/hoaxes.jsp
VMyths.com: http://www.vmyths.com/ [Excellent on-line resource where you can "Learn about computer virus
myths, hoaxes, urban legends, hysteria, and the implications if you believe in them. This site is NOT
sponsored by computer security companies."]
Christian Myths and Urban Legends: http://www.new-life.net/myths.htm [Limited selection, but contains info on
a small number of urban legends not covered by the more well known sites.]
Chain letters: http://www.breakthechain.org/ [Source for everything you might wish to know about chain letters.]
Sophos: Tsunami Relief Hoaxes: http://www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes/tsunami.html [A collection of hoax
e-mails and other scams.]
The Urban Legend Combat Kit: http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/index.html [The Urban Legend Combat Kit is
a free collection of canned responses to help you combat Internet myths and urban legends. When someone
sends you an urban legend, just cut and paste the appropriate response from this site.]
Geek Trivia: http://techrepublic.com.com/1200-10881-5737329.html [Browse just for fun.]
TruthMiners.com: http://www.truthminers.com/truth/ [This site is aimed specifically at Christians. This site has
been running for seven years, but will expire and disappear from the Internet in June 2007.]
Commercial news sources [Our local library provides free access to Lexis. If your library does not offer these
services, you will have to shell out big bucks to become a subscriber]
· Westlaw - look at the database called "All News from Dow Jones Interactive (ALLNEWS)" – a database of
newswires, magazines, and newspapers – including the Wall Street Journal.
· Lexis - look at the database called "News Group File All" – a database of newswires, magazines, and
newspapers – including The New York Times.
If you find the above information useful, please feel free to share it with others.
Dr. Larry C. Bobbert 3/26/09 modified 8/27/09
If you find any errors, omisions or things that should be deleted, contact Dr. Bobbert at bobbertl@att.net
If a story sounds too good to be true – it probably is. Before pressing the forward button or opening an
embedded link it is a good practice [which I violate occasionally] to validate any story that seems to be too
good to be true or if I suspect might be a scam.
Some Internet/e-mail scams are fairly sophisticated. For example, twice in recent weeks I received an e-mail
that appears at first glance to be an authentic official Bank of America notice with the subject line "Military Bank
Alert - Your Services Has Expired." Apart from the red flag raised by the grammatical error in the subject line, I
did not have a "Military Bank" account with Bank of America. I suspected fraud, did not open the embedded link
["Click Here and proceed to the renewal of your online services."], and contacted BofA fraud department
immediately by e-mail and phone. The BofA representative I spoke with confirmed that this is an identity-theft
scam. I have since canceled my accounts with BofA because the bank encourages illegal immigration--but
that's another story.
Here is the list of websites that I go to when I wish to validate a story or check out suspected scams and
hoaxes--listed in the order in which I consult them:
snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/ [Best known and most comprehensive site. Snopes.com fact-checkers
are professional journalists who carefully research each story. Their work is excellent, but in my opinion they
tend to allow their liberal bias to influence their judgment on topics with political implications.]
HoaxBusters: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HoaxBustersHome.html
I like this one best for me.
· Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy
· Good starting point to check out suspected hoax/fraud
"Interspersed among the junk mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are dire warnings about
devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your system, and malicious software that can steal
the computer right off your desk. Added to that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other
items designed to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you know. Most all of these
messages are hoaxes or chain letters."
About.com: Urban Legends & Folklore: http://urbanlegends.about.com/ [Popular and reliable. Perhaps not as
comprehensive as snopes.com.]
ScamBusters.com [Urban Legends and Hoaxes Resource Center ]: http://www.scambusters.org/index.html
[Popular and reliable. "ScamBusters is an award winning free electronic newsletter (e-zine) to help people
protect themselves from Internet scams, misinformation and hype that are costing entrepreneurs a fortune."]
TruthOrFiction.com: http://www.truthorfiction.com/ [Popular and reliable. Perhaps less comprehensive than
snopes.com. and hopefully less biased.]
The AFU [alt.folklore.urban] & Urban Legend Archive: http://tafkac.org/ [Least comprehensive site.]
Purportal: Urban Legend Portal: http://purportal.com/; [Debunking bunk since 2001. Great search functions
and fact-checking resources. This site can quickly assist you in sorting the myths from the half-truths and the
actual facts. The site consists of database search engines to check keywords from e-mails you have received,
the latest headlines on hoaxes, special reports on 9-11 misinformation, and links to official and commercial
sites on fraud, hoaxes and scams. Search categories:
· Hoaxes and urban legends
o Snopes Urban Legends archives [keyword search]
o About.com Urban Legends [keyword search]
o CIAC Hoax Database [keyword search]
· Viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, malware
o Cert Computer Security Database [keyword search]
o Symantec [keyword search]
· Scams, fraud, and phishing
o Fraud Watch International [keyword search]
o Anti-Phishing Working Group [keyword search]
POW/MIA myths and hoaxes: www.miafacts.org
The American Press Institute's resource pages. A lot of useful information available at this site:
http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/toolbox/urban_legends_hoaxes_and_scams/
o Corporate Attacks and Misinformation
o Urban Legends/Fact-Checking
o Urban Legends, Hoaxes And Scams
o Consumer Scams
· http://www.americanpressinstitute.
org/pages/toolbox/urban_legends_hoaxes_and_scams/urban_legendsfactchecking/
· http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/toolbox/
Museum of Hoaxes: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/ This site is entertaining and provides interesting
information about stories that I did not find covered on the more popular sites. Categories include:
· Famous Hoaxes Throughout History
· Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes
· Tall-Tale Creatures
· Hoax Photo Tests
· Gullibility Tests
· [and several more]
McAfee Virus Hoax page: http://vil.nai.com/vil/hoaxes.aspx
Symantec Virus Hoax page: http://www.symantec.
com/enterprise/security_response/threatexplorer/risks/hoaxes.jsp
VMyths.com: http://www.vmyths.com/ [Excellent on-line resource where you can "Learn about computer virus
myths, hoaxes, urban legends, hysteria, and the implications if you believe in them. This site is NOT
sponsored by computer security companies."]
Christian Myths and Urban Legends: http://www.new-life.net/myths.htm [Limited selection, but contains info on
a small number of urban legends not covered by the more well known sites.]
Chain letters: http://www.breakthechain.org/ [Source for everything you might wish to know about chain letters.]
Sophos: Tsunami Relief Hoaxes: http://www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes/tsunami.html [A collection of hoax
e-mails and other scams.]
The Urban Legend Combat Kit: http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/index.html [The Urban Legend Combat Kit is
a free collection of canned responses to help you combat Internet myths and urban legends. When someone
sends you an urban legend, just cut and paste the appropriate response from this site.]
Geek Trivia: http://techrepublic.com.com/1200-10881-5737329.html [Browse just for fun.]
TruthMiners.com: http://www.truthminers.com/truth/ [This site is aimed specifically at Christians. This site has
been running for seven years, but will expire and disappear from the Internet in June 2007.]
Commercial news sources [Our local library provides free access to Lexis. If your library does not offer these
services, you will have to shell out big bucks to become a subscriber]
· Westlaw - look at the database called "All News from Dow Jones Interactive (ALLNEWS)" – a database of
newswires, magazines, and newspapers – including the Wall Street Journal.
· Lexis - look at the database called "News Group File All" – a database of newswires, magazines, and
newspapers – including The New York Times.
If you find the above information useful, please feel free to share it with others.
Dr. Larry C. Bobbert 3/26/09 modified 8/27/09
If you find any errors, omisions or things that should be deleted, contact Dr. Bobbert at bobbertl@att.net
| 8/21/09 |