The Infamous Chain E-Mail

Occasionally I get e-mails forwarded to me from well meaning people who are concerned about a current issue. The topics range from Bill Gates giving away money, pending laws that the government is trying to pass, safety warnings, conspiracy theories, and some times even Amber Alerts. I figure if a legitimate Amber alert has gone out it will be official looking and factual and will not appeal to your emotions and beg you to pass it on to everyone you know.

Many times these e-mails are just an urban legend making the rounds, like the boy who is dying and wants everyone to send him a business card to add to his collection. What dying kid would want business cards? I can understand Legos, video games, a visit from Lebron James, etc. but business cards? I think one key to discerning if an e-mail is legit is by looking at how it ends. Anytime an e-mail ends with the author pleading with you to forward it to everyone you know and says "this is not a joke" about 5 times then you can expect it to be bogus.

I am aware that many people run things through Snopes in an attempt to verify authenticity, but now many of these bogus e-mails even claim to have been cleared through Snopes. By the way, I think Snopes has too much power. It's starting to rival the Bible and the Constitution as the ultimate source of truth for some people.

The exception to these e-mails is anything that originates from Africa and begins with Dear Sir or Madam and entails providing a bank account to temporarily house several million dollars for a recently deposed Ambassador of Uganda. These are usually legit and have worked out well for me in the past.

Just say no to chain e-mails, unless it is an e-mail encouraging people to follow Chaka's world, then go ahead and pass it on. By the way, thanks to all the new followers and those who have referred them. It looks like at this pace I will be sticking around. Just 10 more to go.