How to find out if an email is a hoax?
How to find out if an email is a hoax? Copy the entire first line of the email text into Google search and see what comes up. It's that simple.
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Comparison between Microsoft Windows and Auto Industry
What would have happened if auto industry had kept up with computer industry. We might have been driving a $500 car that would go 1000 miles a gallon.
At the same time we would be seeing some interesting characteristics like: (Think of Windows now)
- For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........Twice a day.2..
- Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
- Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
- Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
- Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
- The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation' warning light.
- The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.
- Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
- Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
- You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.
- And when when all else fails, you could call 'customer service' in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself.
Well at least such is a hoax email roaming around on internet mentioning that such was a response from GM to Bill Gates.
Surname
Your last name is your identity and carries a lot of history. But if people share the same last name, does that make them related? Not necessarily. Check out the email I received not too long ago:
From: Muhammad Hafiz <muhammadhmedha@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 08:34
Subject: Very Urgent: MELISSA T. TA
Dear Melissa T. Ta,
I am Mr. Muhammad Ahmed Hafiz, a legal practitioner. Please be patient and go through the contents of this email very careful which I believe is a message that will be beneficial to the both of us. I am the legal representative to Late Mr. Frank Ta. Who herein after shall be referred to as my late client. He died in June 2004 as a result of heart condition.
Basically, my motive of writing you is to assist me secure the funds left behind by my client before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this fund valued at US$4.8Million dollars was deposited.
I have a mandate from the bank to present the next of kin to the deceased or the funds will be confiscated and so far, all my efforts to get hold of someone related to this man has proved abortive.
I want you to consider this proposal. If you grant your consent that I present you to the bank as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my deceased client (since you have the same last name), so that the proceeds of this account can be transferred to you, then we can share the entire proceeds on a mutually agreed-upon percentage.
All legal documentation to back up your claim as my deceased client's next-of-kin will be provided. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.
This entire process will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. However, if this business proposition offends your moral values, do accept my apology. Please contact me at your earliest convenient to indicate your interest.
Best Regards,
Mr. Muhammad Ahmed Hafiz, Esq.
Can you say hoax? I don't know a Frank Ta and where in the world did this guy get my contact information? Interestingly enough, a day later I received a similar email from another person saying that I was next-of-kin to a Mr. Clement - a surname not even close to mine!
Phishing has really gotten way out of hand lately.
'axe effect' lawsuit is a hoax
Axe spokesperson Heather Mitchell sent Asylum this statement:"We've been following the news reports from India where a man was allegedly planning to take legal action for the Axe Effect not working for him personally. We can confirm this is a hoax. In fact the story originated from TheFakingNews.com. While the story is not true, we have to admit that it's pretty funny and the joke itself is very much in line with our brand tone -- playful, with a wink and a nudge. While Axe grooming products can help guys look, smell and feel great, there is only so much we can do; the rest is up to guys themselves."We checked, and it's true, the (uncensored, NSFW) original story is available here.
via asylum.com
Berita yang ini ternyata hanyalah sebuah hoax, tapi lucu juga sih ya. :)
How gullible are we!?
Have you noticed this over the last week or so? It's all over the interwebs!
Beta of Chrome OS released!Someone with too much time on hands made up a Linux distribution from SUSE Studio, added Google Chrome to it, called it Chrome OS and put it (cleverly, I might add!) on Google Sites.The outcome is a piece of Junk. Sorry that's rude, but I know because I tried it - knowing too well that it's a phony. But a geek that I am, I had to try it. There's no way even a super-premitive-alpha of any Google product, that they are claiming to be 'revolutionary', would be so unpolished.Even then, links to this site are all over the place - news feeds, twitter, facebook - you name it. Even biggies like DailyTech and Engadget (or was it Gizmodo? Can't remember) managed to make a story out of it (but quickly retracted? I saw something in my news reader, but the link was broken).I wonder why everyone was fooled into thinking that Google released that beta, when there was no official word from Google. Especially, when Google had recently said that they would release the said OS only late in 2010.Today there were sightings of, what look like Mint OS, claimed to be Chrome OS. Just because it has a bit Google Chrome logo as the background image!This is insane... WTF!
Hoax - was ist das?
Unter "Hoax" wird ein meist in Form von Ketten-E-Mails weitergeleitetes falsches Gerücht, im deutschen auch als "Ente" bekannt, bezeichnet.
In einem typischen Hoax wird behauptet, dass ein Unternehmen (Microsoft, Nokia,…), eine Institution (Krankenhaus, Polizei, fiktive Institutionen mit wohlklingenden Namen,…) bittet, bestimmte Informationen, meist Sicherheitshinweise weiterzuleiten. Beispiele:- HIV-verseuchte Nadeln in Kinositzen
- Virenwarnungen - v.a. Warnungen vor technisch (fast) gar nicht möglichen Auwirkungen wie z.B. Zerstörung der Festplatte (ein Virus kann höchstens die Inhalte der Festplatte zerstören, nicht die Festplatte an sich)
- kranke Haustiere durch Putzmittel
- Rattenurin auf Getränkedosen
- Bombendrohungen beim Oktoberfest
- diverse "Urban Legends"
- todkrankes Kind wünscht sich E-Mails/Postkarten/Knochenmarkspende…
- Misshandlungen von Tieren
- Spenden für kranke Kinder, Geld, Mobiltelefone oder Notebooks als Belohnung für E-Mail-Weiterleitung
- neuartige Radarfallen
- Verschwörungstheorien (meist zu Themen wie 9-11 oder Krankheiten wie AIDS, Schweinegrippe,…)
- "todsichere" Aktientipps, v.a. zu sogenannten Penny-Stocks
- …dass eine unschuldige Person, Firma oder Institution, die als ursprünglicher Absender angegeben wurde, mit Anfragen überschüttet wird.
- …dass Sie - wenn die E-Mail eine Warnung vor einem bestimmten Produkt enthält - von dem Hersteller wegen Verleumdung und Geschäftsschädigung geklagt werden.
- …dass Sie geklagt werden, weil Sie unwahre Gerüchte, die einen großen Teil der Bevölkerung in Angst versetzen können, verbreiten (zumindest in Österreich ist dies strafbar!)
- …dass Ihre E-Mail-Adresse und die E-Mail-Adressen der anderen Adressaten irgendwann bei Spammern landen.
- …dass die Personen, an die Sie die E-Mail weiterleiten ordentlich angefressen auf Sie sind, weil Sie ihre wertvolle Zeit rauben und vielleicht durch die Weiterleitung auch anderen ihre E-Mail-Adresse bekanntgegeben haben.
- …dass (bei Aktientipps) Betrüger schnell auf Kosten anderer - und zwar jener, die auf den Hoax reinfallen - viel Geld an der Börse verdienen.
- persönliche Rache an einer Person, einem Unternehmen oder einer Institution
- kurzfristige Gewinne durch Spekulation mit Aktien eines betroffenen Unternehmens bzw. eines zu diesem Unternehmen in Konkurrenz stehenden Unternehmens
- Versuch, polizeiliche Ermittlungen zu behindern oder zumindest zu verzögern, indem die betreffende Dienststelle mit aufgeregten Anrufen "lahmgelegt" wird
- Versuche von Mitgliedern extremer politischer Gruppen, Sekten,… durch ein allgemeines Klima der Angst und Verunsicherung Profit zu schlagen
- Wunsch, durch Ketten-E-Mails an Kontakte anderer Personen zu bekommen
- ???
