Bogus Email

Here's some perfect information for April Fool's Day. It's all about email messages on the Internet, that are aimed at fooling you.

There are so many of these e-hoaxes out there, it's hard to keep track of them. CBS News Consumer Correspondent Herb Weisbaum reports.

The problem is lots of people believe these e-hoaxes because they're on the Web. And once they get started, it's hard to stop them.

"It goes away sometimes, then it comes back, then it goes away, then it comes back," says Adam Sohn of Microsoft.

Microsoft is named in various chain letters, including one which says Microsoft and AOL are running an email test and that they'll pay you for every person to whom you forward the email. (Sorry—not gonna happen.)

"We're not going to pay people to forward emails. It's a hoax and hopefully people will realize that and treat it that way," says Sohn.
Right now, a bogus chain letter is causing headaches for members of Congress. They're getting complaints about a bill that would let the U.S. Postal Service collect a charge every time an email is sent. Guess what? There is no such proposal before lawmakers.

Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., says, "It's a monumental hoax of the highest magnitude."

And yet, Boehlert has gotten more than 3,000 emails from people who want him to vote against a bill that doesn't exist.

Because the Internet is so efficient at spreading information, both true and false, what seems like a harmless prank can quickly get out of hand.

At the Make A Wish Foundation they face the problem every day. In fact, each year they handle more than 10,000 phone calls about bogus emails.

"It's time we could spend granting wishes for kids, and certainly that's what we'd prefer to be doing," says Barry McConnell of Make A Wish Foundation.

Beware if you get an email about Amy Bruce, a very sick 7-year-old girl. The note says Make A Wish will make a donation for every person you send Amy's email to. The truth is that Make A Wish doesn't know an Amy Bruce. And it doesn't donate money for forwarded emails.

The harm in all this is that these bogus emails make people leery about all their email. They panic some folks and clog up a company's email system.

If you get one and you are curious, you can go to the official Web site of any company or organization mentioned. There are also various places on the Web that track these hoaxes. The bottom line is that if you're not absolutely sure it's legit, break the chain—delete the message rather than pass it along.