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Urban Legends Reference Pages: <NOBR>Update #358</NOBR> Hello again from snopes.com, where we shed light on the wild tales you've heard! This <NOBR>e-mail</NOBR> gives information about new articles recently added to the Urban Legends Reference Pages and provides pointers to older pieces about rumors and hoaxes still wandering into everyone's inboxes. Our last update mailing was <NOBR>April 5,</NOBR> 2008. If after this update you are left wondering about something newly arrived in your inbox, our search engine stands ready to assist you. Bookmark that URL �?it's a keeper! An RSS feed for our What's New page is available at the following URL: http://www.snopes.com/info/whatsnew.xml
And now to the legends, the mayhem, and the misinformation!
New Articles - Humorous accounts of examinations performed on patients.
- Jilted woman spreads grass seed in her former boyfriend's apartment.
- Hilarious letters to advice columnist Dear Abby.
- Do new U.S. $5 and $10 bills contain printing errors, and will you get rich if you come across one?
- Of women over 40 having a better chance of being killed by a terrorist than of getting married.
- The story of Freedom, an injured bald eagle nursed back to health by a cancer survivor.
- Don't forget to visit our Daily Snopes page for a collection of odd news stories from around the world!
Worth a Second Look - Of heart attack symptoms that are so subtle they are oft mistaken for indigestion.
Still Haunting the Inbox - Computer virus warnings: Life Is Beautiful, Invitation (or Olympic Torch), and Postcard (or Greeting Card).
- Political rumors continue to swell around the two leading Democratic presidential contenders, <NOBR>Barack Obama</NOBR> and <NOBR>Hillary Clinton</NOBR>.
- Appeals to find missing children: Ashley Flores, Reachelle Marie Smith, and Evan Trembley.
- E-mailed warning claims Glade PlugIns brand air fresheners are a major fire hazard.
- Hot scare of the moment: Warning cautions that gang initiates are bumping their cars into others, then shooting whoever gets out of the bumped automobiles.
- E-mail describes woman who evades a rapist posing as a policeman by calling #77 (or *677) on her cell phone.
- Aspartame: Responsible for an epidemic of cancer, brain tumors, and multiple sclerosis, or not?
- Warnings about scammers' running up long-distance charges by asking victims to press <NOBR>#-9-0 on their telephones or luring phone users into returning calls to numbers within the 809 area code.
- Various rumors about the U.S. Social Security system.
- Gas tips list: Will refueling your vehicle early in the morning save you money?
- E-mail claims the design of new U.S. <NOBR>dollar coins</NOBR> omits the motto "In God We Trust."
- Various popular protest schemes for lowering the price of gasoline.
- "Mastercard" wedding tale about vengeful groom who lets the wedding guests in on what the bride's been up to, then walks out.
- Is it safe to re-use plastic water bottles?
- About "huffing" and the death of a teen from misusing a can of compressed air.
- E-mail claims Starbucks refused to send free coffee to G.I.s serving in Iraq.
- E-mail claims Bill Gates, Microsoft and AOL are giving away cash and merchandise to those who forward an e-mail message.
- E-mail claims that entering one's PIN in reverse at any ATM will summon the police.
Fraud Afoot - Seems like everyone has become the recipient of mysterious <NOBR>e-mails</NOBR> promising untold wealth if only one helps a wealthy foreigner quietly move millions of dollars out of his country. The venerable Nigerian Scam has discovered the goldmine that is the Internet. Beware �?there's still no such thing as "something for nothing," and the contents of your bank account will end up with these wily foreigners if you fall in with this.
- Likewise, look out for mailings announcing you've won a foreign lottery you don't recall entering or claiming that because you share the surname of a wealthy person who died without leaving a will you're in line for a windfall inheritance.
- And be especially wary if, while trying to sell or rent anything online (car, boat, horse, motorcycle, painting, apartment, you name it) you're approached by a prospective buyer/renter who wants to pay with a cashier check made out for an amount in excess of the agreed-upon price and who asks the balance be sent to a third party.
- Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties or reship goods to them have been defrauded by con artists. Don't you be next.
- If someone calls to announce you've failed to appear for jury duty and will be arrested, do not give the caller your personal and financial information in an effort to prove he's sending the gendarmes after the wrong guy. You're being tricked into giving up this information to an identity thief.
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| Urban Legends Reference Pages copyright © 1995-2008 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson This material may not be reproduced without permission | | | | | |
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