Bonsai Kitten
 

Internet Hoaxes and Urban Legends

So like most people I got a half dozen e-mails this month about the terrors of Formosan Termites in Mulch swarming my way from New Orleans wood chippers. So is it a scam, hoax, urban legend? Me, I use the exact phrase function on engine and load a sample phrase from the e-mail (eg "showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices") and check to see if it's bona fide or bogus. Formosan Termites...highly improbable. E-mail hoaxes come in all varieties (like photos of sharks attacking helicopters) and can forward themselves around in cyberspace for years (like the IBM "mouse balls" memo circa 1989). Don't feel bad if you outsmarted yourself forwarding something, even the FBI went after the hoax website Bonsaikitten.com. Looking for reputable resources to separate out the chaff, try:

Hoaxbusters

Snopes

About Urban Legends

ScamBusters