Most people occasionally receive emails telling them of some brand new virus that "not many people know about" and advising them to "send this email to everyone you know" to get the word out about the new virus. Another type of email may describe some situation where a company is paying people 5¢ each time they forward the particular email, or telling about some terminally ill child whose medical bill trust fund will receive a certain amount of money each time the email is forwarded. Yet another type of email warns of some legislative bill in Congress or being reviewed by a government agency that will tax email use or something similar.

The emails described above are usually false, and can be classified as either hoaxes or "urban legends." These types of emails add unnecessary traffic to an already crowded Internet, and waste the time of those who receive them. If you receive a questionable email and don't know if it's true or not, the links below may be able to give you the answer....

Virus Hoaxes List
Symantec AntiVirus Research Center

If you discover that the email that you received is a hoax, don't forward it! Doing so only extends the life of these emails. A better choice would be to reply to the person who sent it to you and advise them that their email was a hoax. You can even point them to the links above so they can see for themselves. Perhaps the next time they receive such an email, they will get the facts before forwarding it!