This is the first – and possibly the last – in a series of articles for computer users of all ages and levels of expertise – because even the most experienced computer geek may fall victim to one of the below …
Let’s start with jokes. If you think that the sole function of your computer is forwarding jokes to everyone in your address book, you’re on the wrong laugh track. In addition to being annoying and repetitive, they can be virus-ridden and hazardous to your PC’s health.
Fast forward to the e-mail hoaxes that the more trusting among us multi-send to our friends. The best illustration is Bill 602P. Anyone remember that one? Back in the late 1990s, it struck terror in the hearts of e-mail users from here to Canada, where the prank apparently began. Here’s how it goes:
“Dear Internet Subscriber:
“The last few months have revealed an alarming trend in the Government of the United States attempting to quietly push through legislation that will affect your use of the Internet. Under proposed legislation the U.S. Postal Service will be attempting to bilk email users out of ‘alternate postage fees’. Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt. to charge a 5 cent surcharge on every email delivered, by billing Internet Service Providers at source. The consumer would then be billed in turn by the ISP. Washington D.C. lawyer (name deleted) is working without pay to prevent this legislation from becoming law.”
NOT TRUE! NEVER WAS!! But don’t feel bad if you fell for that one. Many people did, including a couple of high profile politicians. During a televised senatorial debate, circa the year 2000, a caller asked the candidates how they felt about Bill 602P. Both of them said they were definitely against it. (That’s a relief.) The scam not only got by the politicos, but also those who screened the on-air queries and the moderator.
Remember those days of computer innocence when we were told that celebrities and major businesses were giving money to anyone who forwarded their e-mails? We were also warned against organ snatchers who drugged people and stole their kidneys while they slept; blue envelopes that contained deadly viruses; and giant dog eating bullfrogs. We were also encouraged to send our old greeting cards to the less fortunate among us which resulted in the recipients getting swamped with other people’s garbage.
Time has passed and computer users have become older and wiser. There are still scammers out there but we have learned to check the ‘too good to be true’ stuff on line. In addition, many of the bad guys have switched to using telephones. But that’s another whole story. The moral here is stay alert – and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
© 2016 Harriet Posnak Lesser
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Harriet Posnak Lesser is an award-winning journalist and social satirist whose articles have appeared in Long Island’s The South Shore Record and Nassau Herald, The New York Times, Cracked Magazine and others.