The Mythbusters of Email Hoaxes

When it comes down to it, the number of legitimate emails in the world are vastly outnumbered by the illegitimate ones. There are the spam ones, the phishing ones, and a small (but annoying) collection that are simply deliberate hoaxes, which may or may not have been sent with any specific malice, but still cause the less naive to question the legitimacy of any email received (particularly those that are forwarded on), and the more naive to simply believe everything that floods into their inbox.

I have no reason to specifically trust any of the “anti-hoax” websites either – what if one (or more) of those had been set up to legitimise hoax emails, or cast doubt on legitimate ones?

However, in saying that, I still find it useful to check a few when I receive a hoax email, to get an idea of its true source, and age. Many of these emails have been around for years, perhaps occasionally receiving a bit of a dust-off and a new coat of paint.

Hoax-Slayer is one such site. I don’t know its legitimacy, but it seems at first glance to be legitimately targetted. I’m sure there are many others.