If a story sounds too good to be true – it probably is.  Before pressing the forward button or opening an imbedded link it is a good practice [which I violate occasionally]   to validate any story that seems to be too good to be true or if I suspect  might be a scam. 

Some Internet/e-mail scams are fairly sophisticated.  For example, twice in recent weeks I received an e-mail that appears at first glance to be an authentic official Bank of America notice with the subject line "Military Bank Alert - Your Services Has Expired."  Apart from the red flag raised by the grammatical error in the subject line, I did not have a "Military Bank" account with Bank of America.  I suspected fraud, did not open the imbedded link ["Click Here and proceed to the renewal of your online services."], and contacted BofA fraud department immediately by e-mail and phone.  The BofA representative I spoke with confirmed that this is an identity-theft scam.  I have since canceled my accounts with BofA because the bank encourages illegal immigration--but that's another story.

Here is the list of websites that I go to when I wish to validate a story or check out suspected scams and hoaxes--listed in the order in which I consult them:

snopes.com:  http://www.snopes.com/  [Best known and most comprehensive site.  Snopes.com fact-checkers are professional journalists who carefully research each story.  Their work is excellent, but in my opinion they tend to allow their liberal bias to influence their judgment on topics with political implications.]

·         Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy

·         Good starting point to check out suspected hoax/fraud

·         "Interspersed among the junk mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are dire warnings about devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your system, and malicious software that can steal the computer right off your desk. Added to that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other items designed to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you know. Most all of these messages are hoaxes or chain letters."

The AFU [alt.folklore.urban] & Urban Legend Archive:  http://tafkac.org/  [Least comprehensive site.]

Purportal: Urban Legend Portal: http://purportal.com/;  [Debunking bunk since 2001.  Great search functions and fact-checking resources. This site can quickly assist you in sorting the myths from the half-truths and the actual facts. The site consists of database search engines to check keywords from e-mails you have received, the latest headlines on hoaxes, special reports on 9-11 misinformation, and links to official and commercial sites on fraud, hoaxes and scams.  Search categories:

POW/MIA myths and hoaxes:  www.miafacts.org

The American Press Institute's resource pages.  A lot of useful information available at this site: 

Museum of Hoaxes:  http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/   This site is entertaining and provides interesting information about stories that I did not find covered on the more popular sites.  Categories include:

McAfee Virus Hoax page:  http://vil.nai.com/vil/hoaxes.aspx

Symantec Virus Hoax page:  http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/threatexplorer/risks/hoaxes.jsp

VMyths.com: http://www.vmyths.com/  [Excellent on-line resource where you can "Learn about computer virus myths, hoaxes, urban legends, hysteria, and the implications if you believe in them. This site is NOT sponsored by computer security companies."]

Christian Myths and Urban Legends:  http://www.new-life.net/myths.htm  [Limited selection, but contains info on a small number of urban legends not covered by the more well known sites.]

Chain letters:  http://www.breakthechain.org/  [Source for everything you might wish to know about chain letters.]

Sophos: Tsunami Relief Hoaxes:   http://www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes/tsunami.html  [A collection of hoax e-mails and other scams.]

The Urban Legend Combat Kit:  http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/index.html   [The Urban Legend Combat Kit is a free collection of canned responses to help you combat Internet myths and urban legends. When someone sends you an urban legend, just cut and paste the appropriate response from this site.]

Geek Trivia:  http://techrepublic.com.com/1200-10881-5737329.html  [Browse just for fun.]

TruthMiners.com:  http://www.truthminers.com/truth/  [This site is aimed specifically at Christians.  This site has been running for seven years, but will expire and disappear from the Internet in June 2007.]

Commercial news sources [Our local library provides free access to Lexis.  If your library does not offer these services, you will have to shell out big bucks to become a subscriber]

If you find the above information useful, please feel free to share it with others.