How to tell if a forwarded email message is untrue

Rumors often spread rapidly on the Internet via forwarded email messages. Sometimes these messages are true, but often they are untrue. Unfortunately, the untrue messages tend to be more sensational, and therefore get forwarded that much more and hence make up the bulk of what you receive.

Since you don't want to pass on false information, either via email or by citing the email in conversations, it is wise to first verify the information in the email. Here's how.

	Do a reality check. If the email promises you some kind of reward for forwarding it, it is untrue. A popular email a number of years ago was a claim that AOL and Microsoft got together to run a tracking program to see how the Internet works in real life, so if you forward the email, they will send you a check in the mail for $100. Such an email is a complete lie. Another type of useless email is a petition email where each person writes their name at the bottom of the list. Such petition emails cannot work because people forward to multiple people at once. For example, if Alice is the first person on the list and she forwards to Bob and Catherine, and Bob and Catherine forward to their friends, then Bob's petition will have Alice and Bob (but not Catherine), and Catherine's will have Alice and Catherine (but not Bob), and therefore, there will be no complete copy of the petition and such a petition is useless.
	Look for some telltale signs. For example, if the message cites "an article on CNN.com", but does not give a link to the article, then the article probably does not exist, but rather the author is trying to lend credibility to the story by claiming that it is from a real source.
	Copy a segment of the text of the email, about 5 to 10 consecutive words, and do a search for those words, in quotation marks, in Google or another search engine. For example, once false email about Barack Obama starts with the words "Hot on the heels of his explanation". If one does a search for those words, one quickly finds many websites debunking the claim.
	Search Snopes.com. Snopes.com is dedicated to discovering whether common Internet rumors are true or false. The most common rumors can be found there and the analysis is usually very good.
	If you find the message to be false, don't forward it. If you think the sender is interested in knowing if the message is false, you could also inform the sender of that fact and give your sources for why it is false. You could also tell the sender how to discern what emails are true and false.