I wish people would sometimes check up on the authenticity of emails that they forward on to others. All those countless ones about people dying of cancer and how we can give them 3 measly cents through a simple click, the ones which jinx you with some rare curse from the foothills of Kilimanjaro, the get-rich-quick ones where Bill Gates promises you thousands of dollars for the rest of your life just for spamming..
I received two such emails today - one of a girl named Amy Bruce who claims to receive 7 cents from the Make a Wish foundation every time we forward her message. I checked out the so-called <a href=
http://www.makeawish.com target="_blank">Make A Wish</a> website. Its crudely put together fake website, which asks if you're searching for Amy, amongst other things. Do you actually think that such a huge foundation would actually put up a single child's name onto the front page of their website? No. All other links from the wesite are empty and lead to mere search engines.
The company further talks about these false chain letters and that they only hinder their purpose and mislead people. Below is a part of the statement posted on their website.
"CHAIN LETTERS & THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION
Make-A-Wish Foundation Does Not Participate In Chain Letter Or Other Direct Solicitation Wishes
Each day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation National Office and chapters receive hundreds of inquiries regarding chain letters claiming to be associated with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. As a matter of policy, the Make-A-Wish Foundation does not conduct these types of wishes- including Internet and e-mail requests. Below are the chain letters currently circulating around the world:
Amy Bruce, Jeff DeLeon, Rhyan Desquetado, Nikisha Johnson, and Jessie Anderson
The time and expense required to respond to these inquiries distracts the Foundation from its efforts on behalf of children with life-threatening illnesses, and more importantly, divulges information that is potentially harmful to a child and his or her family."
Another email I received today from a (sensible!) friend of mine, that warned that Msn was going to start charging for its services, due to too many many "inconsiderate" poeple who had multiple user accounts with variations of the same name. As a result, Msn had only 578 names left that could be registered. Apart from the glaring typos, casual language, and and ALL CAPS paragraph, there were still
There are over 6 billion people in the world. Even if, on an average, each name is shared by 6 people, that means that there 1 billions possiblities. Coupled with the fact that each name is usually spelt differently, person to person, and that you can add birthdates, numbers, surnames, etc, there must be over a trillion ways to regsiter your username. Plus, who even set a limit to the number of users Msn could hold? Even if there was such a limit, Micrsoft would simply stop taking on new users, rather than force people to give up their accounts.
There is a cited link in that forward -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1189119.stm which you can check out if you do not believe the email. I am sure few people would actually have looked at this link, much less noticed the date that the news article had been posted -
Sunday, 25 February, 2001, 11:00 GMT: over 5 years ago.
You would have thought Microsoft would have shut down your account by now, instead of waiting 5 years to do it.
So please. Everytime you gets a guilt trip and think you can save the world merely by forwarded a mere mail made up of complete lies, please, think twice. The world cannot be saved by such an insignificant action on your part. It will take hard work, determination and will to change the world.
If you want to contribute to helping save the lives of others, or atleast alleviate their pain and suffering, volunteer. Help out. If you think you have nothing to contribute, you are wrong. Even one kind word or simple helpfulness can brighten up someone's day. Treat people well and with gentleness. By people, I mean the whole of mankind, no matter what religion, caste, colour or income level. What goes around, does come around. Might as well make it a good thing, no? :)
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