IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Hoaxes, Scams and Con Artists -- Keeping Ahead of the Game

Some tips and lessons about how to tell truth from falsehood.

There are various references in this article to electronic communication and email. This specifically only applies to those who do have email. However, the lessons to be learned about human nature and middos are important to everyone.

They all sound very convincing. Here is the latest one that came our way:

"The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes ringing during fueling operations. What specifically happened:

"In the first case, the phone was placed on the car's trunk lid during fueling. It rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the gasoline pump. In the second, an individual suffered severe burns to his face when fumes ignited as he answered a call while refueling his car. And in the third, an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when the phone, which was in his pocket, rang while he was fueling his car."

It sounds very convincing. After all, Shell Oil is a real company, in fact it is a major multinational oil company, and would not say anything without being sure of it.

The letter goes on to say that cell phones can ignite fires and should be turned off when near flammable fumes. It gives Four Rules for Safe Refueling: Turn Off Engine; Don't Smoke; Don't Use Your Cell Phone; Never Re-enter Your Vehicle.

Then it ties in the warning about cell phones with a campaign by Bob Renkes of the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) to make people aware of the fact that static electricity can cause fires during the refueling of automobiles.

It notes that PEI has collected 150 reports of fires at gas pumps that seemed to be caused by static electricity and cites some "very surprising" results (we are not quoting all of them): 1) Almost all of them were women; 3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes; 4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished.

Bob Renkes is a real person and he does work for the the Petroleum Equipment Institute. After seeing these impressive sources and their warnings, you certainly feel that it is the least that you can do to forward this information to everyone in your address book.

However, this information, and many other letters like it, is a hoax. There are many of these essentially anonymous letters that present believable and superficially reputable information that is basically made up.

Part of the information is true but much of it is not. Particularly the "edge" that arouses your fears and brings you to quickly send it on to everyone you care about -- is false.

To start at the beginning:

The Shell Oil company never issued any such report about mobile phones. In an official statement the company says: "We understand that there is an email, purportedly official Shell communication, circulating which describes various incidents that are supposed to have occured as a result of mobile phones ringing while at a retail station.

"Please be advised that the email in question does NOT originate from Shell Malaysia and we are unable to confirm any of the incidents quoted."

The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) writes that before 1999 it believed that all fires in gas stations were due to an open flame (such as a cigarette) or a running motor or the fuel pump not being grounded. However then it began to get some reports for fires that did not seem to have those causes.

It believes that it has documented every fire at a United States gas station between January 2000 and early 2003. Right at the beginning of the description of the report about static electricity fires during refueling, obviously in response to the above hoax, PEI writes: "Our report does not pertain to cellular telephones. In fact, PEI has not been able to document a single refueling fire incident related to a cell phone.

"Only refueling fires that appear to be started by static electrical discharge are detailed in our report. None of the electrical discharges we have documented involved any electronic devices."

A report in Wired quotes Bob Renkes with a more direct statement as follows: "We have not found a cell phone responsible for any fire since the beginning of mankind," he said.

It is true that PEI published rules for safe refueling, but they had only three: "While filling up... Turn Off Engine; Don't Smoke; Never Re-enter Your Vehicle.

Nothing about cell phones.

Motorola also published a background paper dated May 3, 2002 in which it stated: "Having looked into this issue at some length, Motorola can report that: We know of no documented incident anywhere in the world where the use of a mobile phone or portable radio was identified as the cause of a fire or explosion in a gasoline station. There is no credible reason to believe that the use of these products poses any such hazard."

In the report about static electricity which was published by PEI, there is no information about the sex of the people involved in the fires, and certainly no generalization about men and women.

Also, for some perspective about the real hazard of static electricity, the PEI estimates that Americans fill their cars with gasoline between 11 and 12 billion times a year. That means in the period in which they gathered evidence of 147 cases of fires started by static electricity, there were about 35 billion refuelings altogether. That hardly qualifies it as a major hazard.

The Question is: Why?

Someone in this case took a few grains of truth and embellished them to make a message that would get people to pass it on. The question that can be asked of this and other examples that we will cite below is: Why?

Why does someone perpetrate a hoax to which they will never see the results?

In this case it is actually not clear that the person who composed this message was not convinced that it was true. The false information about cell phones cited has been passed around for years. The details about the static electricity research are not that far from the true findings that they can easily be the product of the interpretation of the results by someone with an active imagination.

However, the following well-circulated hoax is clearly the work of someone, at some point, who set out to fool people.

The Teddy Bear Program Virus

"Subject: Urgent -- Please check your system for this Virus

"I got this message about a virus that can produce lot of damage to your computer. If you follow the instructions which are very easy, you will be able to "clean" your computer.

"Apparently the virus spreads through the address book. I got it, then maybe I passed it to you too. Sorry.

"The name of the virus is jdbgmgr.exe and it is transmitted automatically through the MSN Messenger and address book of OUTLOOK. This virus is not detected by any antivirus programs including Norton nor by McAfee. It remains "sleeping" for 14 days and even more, before it destroys the whole system. It can be eliminated during this period."

Following are instructions for finding this "virus" and instructions to delete it. It is sometimes called the "Teddy Bear" virus because the program has a little bear as its icon in the File Manager.

In fact, the program is an obscure part of the Microsoft Windows operating system of your computer. Most users will never use it. It is a Java Debug Manager program used by the Microsoft Java runtime engine. If you are not a Java programmer, you will never miss it and if you did delete it, you do not have to put it back.

Most of the people who pass this on are well-meaning individuals who are only trying to help. When they see that the facts at the beginning of the message are true -- that the program is on their computer and that the anti-virus programs do not detect it -- they conclude that the entire message is probably accurate and they had better pass it on. Of course, the reason that the anti-virus programs do not detect it is that it is not a virus.

Yet in this case, someone, at some point, must have set out to make a very clever hoax. The person must have known that every computer has this file. Probably he or she knew that it can be deleted without any problem. Nonetheless, the message caused millions of people anxiety and cost untold hours spent in following the instructions and then finding out that it is a hoax, not to mention the resources involved in sending many millions of letters, especially if they are sent electronically.

Whoever started this malicious hoax cannot even see most of the waste that it caused. Why should someone do such a thing? Why should a snake bite if he has no pleasure in the taste? "There is no benefit to the one who uses his tongue [for loshon hora]" (Koheles 10:11).

A similar hoax is based on the program SLFNBK.exe. This is also a part of Windows and therefore is not detected by anti- virus software. (This program is used by Windows for some operations with long file names.)

The Cookie Recipe -- Around for a Long Time

Some of these hoaxes have been around for a long time. Here is one that is at least 55 years old. A version of it appears in a cookbook published in 1948, but we will quote a version that has been very common in recent years.

"My daughter and I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because our family are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the `Neiman-Marcus Cookie.' It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and they said with a small frown, `I'm afraid not.' Well, I said, would you let me buy the recipe? With a cute smile, she said, `Yes.' I asked how much, and she responded, `Two fifty.' I said with approval, just add it to my tab.

"Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman- Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, `Cookie Recipe - $250.00.' Boy, was I upset!! I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them the waitress said it was `two fifty,' and I did not realize she meant $250.00 for a cookie recipe."

The story continues that they had no legal way out and had to pay the bill, but the writer decided to give out the recipe so as many people as possible can at least benefit from her misfortune.

Neiman-Marcus has denied that anything of the sort ever happened in any of their stores (they reportedly have nothing called a "Neiman- Marcus Cafe") and posted their chocolate chip cookie recipe for everyone to enjoy. We will not repeat it here, but be warned that it is milchig.

Other versions of what is obviously the same story were told about the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City and other famous names.

The Dying Child

Another common phony message is a plea to send a dying child electronic greetings. One justification given is so that he can enter into the Guinnes Book of Records. A very common name given for the child is Craig Shergold.

According to most reports, there actually was a young British child by the name of Craig Shergold who was diagnosed with cancer in 1989. Note that this was before email. He did make an appeal (or an appeal was made by his family) for greeting cards, in order to enter the Guinness Book of Records. He did receive hundreds of thousands of letters, and was even cured of cancer.

However the hoaxers (and there well-meaning victims) continue to solicit cards in his name to this very day. (Sometimes they solicit business cards.) Well-meaning people around the world have sent in millions of cards, but there is no need for you to add yours.

The Nigerian Politician/Businessman

One of the common offers is by someone purporting to be a Nigerian with connections to oil wealth. For some reason, many of the appeals are typed in all capital letters. Some people get several emails like this each week. (Note that the grammar and typing mistakes are in the original.)

"URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

"I AM MARIAM ABACHA, WIDOW OF THE LATE NIGERIAN HEAD OF STATE, GEN. SANI ABACHA. AFTER HE DEATH OF MY HUSBAND WHO DIED MYSTERIOUSLY AS A RESULT OF CARDIAC ARREST, I WAS INFORMED BY OUR LAWYER, BELLO GAMBARI THAT MY HUSBAND WHO AT THAT TIME WAS THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA, CALLED HIM AND CONDUCTED HIM ROUND HIS APARTMENT AND SHOWED HIM FOUR METAL BOXES CONTAINING MONEY . . .

"ALONG THE LINE, MY HUSBAND DIED AND SINCE THEN THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN AFTER US, . . .

". . . I PRAY YOU WOULD HELP US IN GETTING THIS MONEY TRANSFERRED OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY. EACH OF THESE METAL BOXES CONTAINS US$5,000,000.00 (FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY) AND TOGETHER THESE FOUR BOXES CONTAIN US20,000,000.00 (TWENTY MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY).

"THIS MONEY, AFTER GETTING TO YOUR COUNTRY, WOULD BE SHARED ACCORDING TO THE PERCENTAGE AGREED BY BOTH OF US. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MATTER IS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL AS THE GOVERNMENT WHICH MY LATE HUSBAND WAS PART OF IS STILL UNDER SURVAILLANCE TO PROBE US.

"YOU CAN CONTACT ME THROUGH MY FAMILY LAWYER AS INDICATED ABOVE . . .

"THANKS AND BEST REGARD

"MRS. MARIAM ABACHA

This scheme, in various forms, has been around for more than a decade. If someone establishes contact with the sender, the money seems to be on the way when suddenly there are unforeseen "fees" or "expenses." If you only forward these sums -- small in comparison to the millions that are dangled as bait -- it is promised that things will move very rapidly. If you do send the money, at best the senders will just disappear. At worst they will start asking for more. Now that you have made an investment, the temptation to send more so that you do not lose the first money, plus the pull of the promise of millions, are a deadly bait.

Giveaways

Many giveaways are harmless but phoney. There are various proposals circulating. Many involve a special program that can track forwarded email messages, and promise a reward from Microsoft or its founder Bill Gates for those who forward emails. The more you forward the email, the greater is your reward. In truth, all you will do is clutter up people's email.

Health Warnings

Warnings about products that are supposedly dangerous usually come from anonymous sources or those that are difficult to trace. For example there is a long discussion of Aspartame (Nutrasweet) written by "Nancy Markle" that claims that it is associated with a long list of ailments. The US Food and Drug Administration and the UK Food Standards Agency say it is completely safe. The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation says that there is no evidence that Aspartame contributes to MS. In short, all the established authorities say it is safe but there are some on a crusade against it.

Other myths that are worth mentioning, so that readers may be forewarned, include a claim that waterproof sunscreen can cause blindness and various dangers associated with deodorant.

Just Call . . .

There are some hoaxes that can cause you damage.

"RE / AWARD NOTIFICATION / PROCESSMENT ADVICE: BBG

"We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, 13th August, 2003 of winners of the SCIENTIFIC GAME PROMO LOTTERY; THE NETHERLANDS / INTERNATIONAL, PROGRAMS held on 9th August, 2003. Your email address attached to ticket number 023- 56678230954, with serial number 5073-11 drew the lucky numbers 7-14-21-42-49-59, and consequently won the lottery in the 1st category. You have therefore been approved of a lump sum pay out of US$500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLARS) in credited to file REF NO. SGIL/763276/03. This is from total prize money of US$4,400,000.00 shared among the seventeen international winners in 1st-3rd categories."

The only thing is that there is a small fee up front of some $500, and they you will very soon get your grand prize. It is all very simple and can go very smoothly. But if you pay them, that is the last you will hear of them. The reports are that some people are taken in and send the money.

Or you are told that you won a large prize, and they just need your credit card information in order to send you your bonanza. If you send in your information, you are likely to find charges on your account that you did not make. In general, getting your valid credit card account number is called identity theft. Usually the credit card insurance eventually covers any losses, but until things are straightened out the situation can be unpleasant. It is best to be careful to give out your information only to trusted parties.

Another fraud is to induce you to call an international number with various promises and enticements. They may say that you just have to call to collect a big prize, or that you must call to settle an unpaid bill. Other ploys ask you to call to help out a relative in trouble. A commonly used area code is "809" which is in the Carribean. If you call, you hear a long, recorded announcement.

The trick here is that some "809" numbers can be set up as "pay per call" numbers (like the 900 numbers in the US) in which the caller is charged for each minute connected to that number and the bill is collected through the regular phone bill. The charges can be as much as several dollars per minute. Some warnings claim that the charges can be thousands of dollars a minute, but there is no proof of that.

The lesson: know who you are calling.

A List of Tips 1. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not. 2. Be wary of offers that are pitched to greed. 3. Never give out information to sources you do not know well, especially information such as credit card account numbers. 4. Be very skeptical of anonymous, thirdhand accounts that cannot be verified with an original source. If a source is mentioned, check it out. 5. Think carefully about the possibility that the proposal is completely false. Don't let dreams of riches induce you to act hastily and foolishly. 6. Don't give out your credit card number or US Social Security number to voices over the phone. Ask for their phone number so that you can call back. 7. Be suspicious if you are asked to act immediately.

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