Internet users are still being infected by a virus that causes them to believe without question every groundless story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their browser.
The Gullibility Virus, as it is called, apparently makes people believe and forward copies of silly hoaxes relating to free give-aways, cancer victims, banning of religious programming on the airwaves, attacks against morals and values, get-rich-quick schemes, and hundreds of other ridiculous and patently false claims.
"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who see UFO's," an IIIP spokesman said. "Most are otherwise normal people, who would laugh out loud at the same stories if told to them by a stranger on a street corner." However, once these same people become infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe anything they read on the Internet.
"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one weeping victim. "I believe every warning message, every virus announcement, and every sick child story my friends forward to me, even though most of the messages originate from anonymous sources. I just can’t help myself."
Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Madeline Murray O'Hair asking the FCC to outlaw prayer on the airwaves, I just accepted it without question and forwarded it to all 500 people in my address book! After all, there were dozens of other recipients on the mail header, so I figured the story must be true. Had I thought about it, I would have remembered that O'Hair has been dead for decades!"
It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed." Now, however, she is spreading the word. "Challenge and check whatever you read," she says. "Don't forward it until you've checked it out. Otherwise, you end up simply telling 500 people how gullible you are."
Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus, which include the following:
 | The willingness to believe improbable stories without thinking. |
| Acceptance of a claim merely because a trusted friend "forwarded" it to you. |
| The ability to believe in "too good to be true" stories. |
| The paranoia of believing that every "attack on moral values will win unless good people stand up and do something". |
| Mindless obedience to the tell-tale trademark of a hoax, "forward this to everyone you know". |
| A lack of desire to take the two minutes it takes to check to see if a story is true. |
| Complete inability to recognize emotional and reaction-producing word choices, especially when appearing in a supposedly-objective news report. |
Additionally, studies have shown that those addicted to talk-radio and talk-TV are several times more likely to become infected than the average educated American.
But mere avoidance of the risk factors is no guarantee of immunity. Anyone can become infected.
T. C. is an example of someone recently infected. He told one reporter, "I read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos gives you cancer, so I've stopped using shampoo. And a close friend forwarded me an email reporting that Satanists had brainwashed the Supreme Court. And who doesn’t want to help out a child with a terminable illness. It is sad that these hoaxes circulate, but even more tragic is the fact that so many supposedly-intelligent people fall for them," he laments.
Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users rush to their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to thoughtless credence. Practically all circulating hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely discussed and exposed by the Internet community.
But always use trusted Net sources that YOU select! Don’t fall for the malicious jamming ploys when the messages say, "call AOL (or the FCC, or McDonald's Headquarters, or whomever) and they will tell you it is true!" Those sentences are added in the message not only to help make you believe the hoax, but also to flood the innocent company or agency with phone calls or email, thus fooling YOU into annoying the victimized company or agency. Don't be a stooge!
There is online help from many trustworthy sources, including:
|
| Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability at: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ |
|
| McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List at http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp |
|
| The Urban Legends Web Site at http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/u/current_netlore.htm |
|
| Urban Legends Reference Pages at http://www.snopes.com |
|
| F-Secure Virus Hoax Warnings at http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/hoax/ |
|
| Rob Rosenberger's Computer Virus Myth's page at http://kumite.com/myths/ |
|
| Scambusters at http://www.scambusters.org/legends.html |
|
| Urban Legends On-Line at http://urbanlegendsonline.com/ |
People who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on evaluating the quality of information sources, such as
|
| Evaluating Internet Research Sources at http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm |
|
| Evaluation of Information Sources at http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm |
Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help slow the spread of the Gullibility Virus by replying to anyone who forwards them a hoax, -- politely educating and enlightening them. Feel free to send them a reference to this webpage and other sources where they can obtain information for themselves, before blindly acting on the directions of others.
As literate citizens, it is our responsibility to spread truth, not falsehoods.
