Web Search Garage

Checking Out “Internet Facts”

I call them “Internet facts” because they're things that float around the Internet. They're not necessarily true. They're distributed via both the Web and e-mail. There are a couple of resources that are invaluable for checking out these sites, but in addition to these resources there are three e-mail characteristics that should raise a red flag for you:

1. You're asked to forward the e-mail to everyone you know.

2. The e-mail describes a problem—like a particularly horrible virus—that if it were legitimate would be on every cable channel as an emergency news flash, including the Golf Channel.

3. The e-mail promises you some kind of reward for forwarding/replicating the mail.

Snopes—http://www.snopes.com

Snopes is the first ...