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snopes.com: Update #401
Hello again from snopes, where we shed light on the wild tales you've heard! This e-mail gives information about new articles recently added to the snopes.com web site and provides pointers to older pieces about rumors and hoaxes still wandering into everyone's inboxes. Our last update mailing was 31 January 2009.
If after this update you are left wondering about something newly arrived in your inbox, our search engine stands ready to assist you. Bookmark that URL — it's a keeper!
An RSS feed for our What's New page is available at the following URL:
http://www.snopes.com/info/whatsnew.xml
And now to the legends, the mayhem, and the misinformation!
New Articles
- Latest crime scare: E-mail forward warns that criminals in Omaha are distracting drivers with decoys and notes left on windshields in order to gain entry to automobiles.
- Is coffee commonly called a cup of joe because of Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels?
- Do 90% of people in the U.S. marry their high school sweethearts?
- Is the Obama administration planning to have military members pledge a loyalty oath directly to the President rather than the Constitution?
- Shocking surprise: A Huntley and Palmers biscuit tin included risqué images on its lid.
- Warning about a "Valentine's Day Worm" computer virus.
- Don't forget to visit our Daily Snopes page for a collection of odd news stories from around the world!
Worth a Second Look
- Etymology howler: The word golf is an acronym formed from "gentlemen only; ladies forbidden."
Still Haunting the Inbox
- Computer virus warnings: Obama Acceptance Speech Video, Mail Server Report,
Life is Beautiful, and Postcard (or Greeting Card).
- E-warning cautions that cell phone numbers are being sold to telemarketers.
- Long-standing hoax about companies giving away glorious goodies to those who forward an e-mail to a specified number of recipients takes many forms: Bill Gates and AOL distributing cash, Ericsson giving free laptops to tots, and Applebees forking over $50 vouchers.
- No, Swiffer WetJet does not pose a danger to pets.
- Warnings about scammers' running up long-distance charges by asking victims to press #-9-0 on their telephones or luring phone users into returning calls to numbers within the 809 area code.
- E-mail describes woman who evades a rapist posing as a policeman by calling #77 (or *677) on her cell phone.
- Old "ancestor was a horse thief" joke aimed at new politcal targets (Harry Reid, Ted, Stevens, Stephane Dion).
- Appeals to find missing children: Ashley Flores, Reachelle Marie Smith, and Evan Trembley.
- Jury duty scam: Caller tricks victim into revealing personal and financial information by telling him he's missed jury duty and the police will be coming for him.
- Four Paws withdrew a "pimple ball" dog toy from the market following reports of injuries to dogs.
- Items about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
- Article explains the difference between http and https web protocols.
- Drug products containing PPA (phenylpropanolamine) were pulled from the market due to FDA concerns over a possible connection to strokes.
- No, entering one's PIN in reverse at any ATM will not summon the police.
- Resident who writes to complain about noise made by fly-by of jets from local air force base receives blistering response.
- No, criminals are not incapacitating potential victims with business cards soaked in burundanga.
- July 2005 warning made by terrorist expert Juval Aviv about imminent terrorist threats against the U.S. circulates anew.
- Rumor claims Jane Fonda betrayed U.S. POWs during the Viet Nam War.
- Internet-circulated piece lists potential consequences that will result from the passage of the Freedom of Choice Act.
- Why Joshua Bell, a world-class violinist, played incognito in a Washington subway.
- Are thieves armed with "code grabbers" breaking into your automobiles?
- No, gangs of carjackers have not been luring victims from their vehicles by placing flyers on cars.
- Appeal to sign a petition protesting the release of the killers of 2-year-old James Bulger are futile, in that the two murderers served their sentences and were set free in
June 2001.
- Longstanding hoax: Amy Bruce, a terminally ill young girl, writes "Slow Dance" poem.
Fraud Afoot
- Seems like everyone has become the recipient of mysterious e-mails promising untold wealth if only one helps a wealthy foreigner quietly move millions of dollars out of his country. The venerable 419 Scam has discovered the goldmine that is the Internet. Beware: There's still no such thing as "something for nothing," and the contents of your bank account will end up with these wily foreigners if you fall in with this.
- Likewise, look out for mailings announcing you've won a foreign lottery you don't recall entering or claiming that because you share the surname of a wealthy person who died without leaving a will you're in line for a windfall inheritance.
- And be especially wary if, while trying to sell or rent anything online (car, boat, horse, motorcycle, painting, apartment, you name it) you're approached by a prospective buyer/renter who wants to pay with a cashier check made out for an amount in excess of the agreed-upon price and who asks the balance be sent to a third party.
- Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties or reship goods to them have been defrauded by con artists. Don't you be next.
- If someone calls to announce you've failed to appear for jury duty and will be arrested, do not give the caller your personal and financial information in an effort to prove he's sending the gendarmes after the wrong guy. You're being tricked into giving up this information to an identity thief.
Admin Stuff
- View the latest edition of the snopes.com newsletter online.
- Please note that the e-mail address upd...@snopes.com is an administrative address used only for mailing weekly updates to subscribers. All mail sent to this address is automatically deleted.
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- If you wish to find information on a particular topic, please use the search engine.
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