Hoaxes

• A hoax message aims to mislead, often relying on the naivety of its recipients
• Types of hoax messages

  • Urban myths
  • Untrue news stories
  • Claim that Mark Zuckerberg will give $45 million to a thousand Facebook users
• Hoax messages can spread rapidly via email and forums, often passed on unwittingly by work colleagues, family, friends and even reputable online retailers
• Users who fall for hoaxes can cause problems both for themselves and for others
• A hoax can generate spam when it directs the recipient to pass on the message, cause files to be deleted unnecessarily and potentially harmfully, and generally cause panic
• Best defence against hoaxes

  Be sceptical
• Most anti-virus software vendors maintain information on hoaxes on their websites
• You can use a search engine to search for significant terms contained within the hoax message to find reports on reputable websites
• Reputable websites that provide information on hoaxes include Sophos and Hoax-Slayer