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  Critically Reading Your E-mail

Link to the homepage of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
There are some people who don't think critically when they read e-mail messages that ask them to forward these messages to other people on the Internet. Don't waste people's time with e-mail like this unless you have checked that it is genuine. You look stupid if you forward "hoax" e-mail. A hoax is an annoying type of joke to fool stupid people.

You can look for these features in an e-mail to help you decide if it is a probably a hoax:

  • This message is so important, we're sending it anonymously!
  • Forward it to all your friends right away! Don't think about it! This is not a chain letter! This story is true! Don't check it out!
  • This story is so timely, there is no date on it!
  • This story is so important, we're using lots of exclamation points!
  • For every message you forward to some unsuspecting person, the Home for the Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten cents to itself.
  • (If you wonder how the Home will know you are forwarding these messages all over creation, you're obviously thinking too much.)

You can check whether a message is a hoax by checking these sites:

Some good material on evaluating sources is:

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Last updated on: Friday, December 14, 2001.