|
Post by Milowent on Feb 6, 2014 15:33:39 GMT -5
Has anyone run into the issue of older relatives getting on the internet, and whose main internet activity appears to be using email to send chain emails?
Usually about conspiracies (e.g., new virus will destroy your computer if you even open an email, obama is about to impose martial law, etc., the knock out game is coming into town) If they add anything to the content sometimes they may say "not sure if this is real, but better be safe." I also like that sometimes the emails say "This is true, snopes.com has verified it," when that is completely not true at all.
Not sure I have an exact age cutoff here, but typically we are talking folks in their 60s and 70s, who do not have a long history of internet use.
|
|
|
Post by Mathieas on Feb 6, 2014 18:55:03 GMT -5
My brother's Father-in-law will believe anything sent in an email. I am 100% not making this up, he actually sent money to a person claiming to be a Nigerian Prince. It was about 5 years ago and to this day I can picture my brother telling me that story.
|
|
|
Post by Milowent on Feb 7, 2014 12:50:36 GMT -5
he actually sent money to a person claiming to be a Nigerian Prince. yeah, its amazing that these guys nab anybody, but they really do. if you're not turned off by the obvious flags of fraud/hoax in the initial email, the scammers know they already have a likely mark. they can send out millions of those emails, and work the very small percentage inclined to believe it. if anyone has ever listened to the Clark Howard show, you can hear these people on your radio, they really exist. --- here's a scam fwd I recently got via the family email conduit: -- PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS! NOTICE: I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus! [What does that mean? Do we really think the originator of this email spoke to someone at Norton and they were like "we're gearing up for this one, we're putting on our riot gear, sharpening our motherboards!"]I checked Snopes, and it is for real. [But the idea of an embedded a link in an email to prove this? Never occurs to the Old Person Internet. Email is a letter on the computer, and you can't click links in a letter, right?]Assuming it's legit so be careful! [Wait? you just confirmed it was legitimate in two of the best ways possible. What more could you do?] Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP. You must be alert during the next few days: [Disregard the fact that the 15 forwards show the originating email is weeks only already.] Do not open any message with an attachment entitled "POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK", regardless of who sent it to you. [Well, this is actually decent advice. For those who can't really detect bad emails, its better not to ever open attachments. The ".exe" means nothing to the Old Person Internet. "oh, its an Executive postcard, I suppose, very fancy!!"]It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer. [Of course an image itself won't destroy your computer, but perhaps a virus will pull up an image as it does whatever it does. The use of "burns" is unclear, people "burn" CDs, but we'll assume this means destroy. "the whole hard disc C" is amusing too -- the hoaxer is not sure whether people know what the the hard drive is. so they add the "C" for people who have heard of the "C drive".]This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. [Well, that can happen, that's true.]If you receive an e-mail entitled "POSTCARD," even though it was sent to you by a friend, do not open it! SHUT DOWN YOUR COMPUTER IMMEDIATELY! [Wow. Even seeing you have the email, without even opening it, or opening the attachement, you have to shut down your computer? This is a powerful virus.] This is the worst virus announced by CNN. [The narrative is getting off-track here, apparently we need more proof that its a horrible virus. CNN apparently called it the "worst virus"]It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. [Wow, how many viruses are in this "classification"?]This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. [YESTERDAY!! These events are NEVER dated.]This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept. [Wait, I thought it burned the whole hard disc C?]This is the reason you need to send this e -mail to all your contacts. [Can I attach a jpg called "POSTCARD IMAGE"?]It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. [Is it really? This is the one that gets my relatives. Its the .00001% chance you'll save someone's life.]COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND CONTACTS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, WE WILL ALL BENEFIT. And here is the personal touch added by my relative:(Any of my peeps who are more computer savy: Anything you can find out about this virus, please send me a quick e-mail - Bertha)
|
|