Hoax Examples

These are not so much petitions as old-fashioned chain letters. Some may take the form of a petition to ban something that doesn't even exist; others use greed, ignorance or fear to trick people into "e-mailing everyone they know". They are important because they can turn people off the idea of electronic activism, thinking everything is a hoax.

See: Advice on hoaxes from Symantec

Virus Hoaxes

Spotlight:

• JDBGMGR.EXE - it happens to have a bear as an icon which creates a spurious justification for believing it is related to the (very real) Bugbear virus. It is a standard component so the claim that if it is there, your system is infected is totally bogus - fortunately, deleting it is generally harmless.

There are probably more of these than real viruses! Well, perhaps not, but I get dozens of e-mails telling me that if I even peek at an email with the subject "XYZ" (e.g. Good Times) the universe will come to end. I have a Microsoft Windows PC (i.e. totally vulnerable) and in over 10 years of online use I have never had a machine infected by an e-mail virus. The basic rules are very simple:

1. Don't open any attachments unless you know exactly what it is - even (perhaps, especially) if it is from a friend - curiosity killed the cat...
2. Never open an attachment that is an executable program (e.g. ending in .EXE .COM .BAT). These give unrestricted access to your Windows PC and can do anything: wipe your hard disc; create "spy" hooks to get your passwords - anything! Thanks to Microsoft's sloppiness, this list has now multiplied and should include .VBS .PIF .SCR and what are called ActiveX components in web pages (you will usually get a security warning: just say No!). Legitimate software is never distributed as an attachment: you should be given a link to a web page whose domain you trust (e.g. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads). If you do want to accept any of these as attachments (why?), then you must use an up-to-date virus scanner.
3. If you use Microsoft Word or Excel, ensure Macro Virus Protection set to warn you if a document contains a macro (see Tools/Options/General). Attachments for these will usually end in .DOC .DOT .XLS .XLT and if you have to exchange these because of work, you probably should get a virus scanner.
4. Attachments ending in .TXT (Plain Text) .RTF (Rich Text Format) .PDF (Adobe Acrobat) .GIF .JPG (Images) .MPG .MPEG .MOV .WMV .ASF .AVI (Movies) .WAV .MP3 .WMA (Audio) .HTM .HTML (HTML is web page format) are usually safe, though Microsoft has been doing its "best" to undermine the safety of HTML and other formats by adding all sorts of pointless extensions which weaken security, so keep your browser and Windows Media Player up to date.
   
   IMPORTANT: Watch out for fake endings like filename.TXT.vbs - the .TXT is irrelevant and intended to mislead: it is the final .vbs that counts - and what makes it dangerous.

Microsoft/AOL Merger Chain Letter

And all other "merger", "e-mail tracking software" and "Bill Gates will give you money" nonsense - About.com article.

Fake Causes

These include the silly, the sick and the ironic but basically aim to manipulate people into signing petitions about issues that simply don't exist. Bonsai Kittens is a sick joke taken to extremes, so absurd it is almost laughable (though sensitive animal lovers may wish to avoid the site): it has active petitions against it both on the basis that it is real and on the basis that it is sick. Others - like Citizens against Breast Feeding - are pranks, possibly with a questionable aim of mocking opposition. The essential thing here is to use your common sense and verify the issue with reputable sources. Then there are the Dying Child and Missing Child ones - quite what motivates these is not clear, but they are fake and if you want to help with real cases, contact an appropriate real organisation.

e-petition.org