• "The sky is falling." Many people send well-meaning warnings about viruses they heard of or they will forward messages about virus alerts. In almost all cases the warning is a hoax. Usually, no harm is done except the person is embarassed for looking like Chicken Little.
• Virus hoaxes are a form of chainmail. They are annoying and raise the level of anxiety in the lives of those who receive them. Why do that to your friends and family?
• Hoaxkill - www.hoaxkill.com - the web service dedicated to telling as many people as possible not to forward useless petitions, urban legends and false virus warnings. They have terrific info and some very amusing hoaxes. I love this site.
• Symantec - Go to www.symantec.com/avcenter for the latest virus information. This is the most authentic source of virus info.
  Known hoaxes and jokes can be accessed directly from the links below:
  Known virus hoaxes - STOP A HOAX, SAVE A FRIEND
  Joke programs that do not harm your computer but can make it do annoying things.
• The Department of Energy- has a comprehensive list of hoaxes, urban legends, email scams and chain mail plus great info about real viruses at Hoaxbusters *This is a fun site to browse*.
• Urban Legends Reference Page - www.snopes.com
• BreakTheChain.org has the scoop on chainmail. Before you forward a forward of a forwarded email, find out if it's really an issue or just another lie to spread fear. You'll also find some amusing tactics for discouraging your "friends" from sending you forwarded crap.

SOME GUIDELINES for CONSIDERATE USE of EMAIL

• Mass mailing - use Bcc: for your email lists. If you are sending email to a large number of people, please use Bcc: (blind carbon copy) instead of To: or Cc: . That will hide the email addresses of the recipients from each other. It keeps them private. Even though you mean well, sending mass mail by To: or Cc: spreads everyone's email address around. If any one of those people has a virus, then those email addresses are just added to the list of places it will try to spread itself.
• Chain mail often has ulterior motives - any survey, petition, "experiment", that asks you to send them personal information (name, address, phone, email address list ...etc.) should be viewed with a critical eye. They always sound so innocent but, in most cases, these are just clever means to collect valid email addresses and demographic information to sell to marketers and spammers. Ever wonder why you get so much spam and junk mail?
• Please do not "Send this to your entire address book" or "Forward this to everyone you know" - Any email that contains messages such as these are most assuredly spam and usually the sign of a hoax. Check the resources above before forwarding them to anyone.