Guest Author - Lana R. Mixon

Recently I came across the following quote attributed to Mark Twain:

"The most outrageous lies that can be invented will find believers if a person only tells them with all his might."

Mark Twain had the ability to grab the reader and bring him/her along for a fantastic ride through a story of unforgettable characters. And, he was able to make the reader feel as if the story really happened. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a prime example of this talent.

As I read the quote I immediately thought about how lies are woven into e-mail scams or urban legends that grab our attention and suck us in.

I think on some subconscious level we love stories that grab us and tap into our emotions of fear, curiosity, hatred, love, jealousy, rage, excitement, disgust, etc. Some of these characteristics are intertwined into urban legend stories and e-mail scams.


Some of my husband's co-workers recently received an e-mail that appeared to be from UPS. Unfortunately, they opened the attachment as instructed only to discover it contained a computer virus. Yikes!
Below is a quote from www.inform.glam.com :

http://inform.glam.ac.uk/news/2008/07/25/computer-virus-disguised-as-email-from-ups-packet-service/
"A new computer virus is circulating via email as an attachment and purporting to originate from the UPS Packet Service.¨
"The bogus Packet Service message claims a parcel sent by the user was undeliverable due to an incorrect address. The user is instructed to open an attachment containing a copy of the invoice. The attachment actually contains a virus which may infect the user's computer.¨

I continue to wonder why the creators of these virus-carrying e-mails aren't doing something better with their lives. They're obviously smart and creative. Is it the thrill of seeing others' exasperated? Is it a feeling of accomplishment? What's their motivation? Why not put their skills to better use? I guess we will never know or understand.

So, what can we do to protect ourselves from these potential viruses? A few ideas to consider:
1) use a major anti-virus software program
2) keep your anti-virus software current
3) use extreme caution when opening e-mail attachments

I wonder what Mark Twain would think and say about our gullibility to some of these hoaxes??

(A copy of the virus-carrying e-mail is available at www.snopes.com)