chique
May 17, 2001, 11:27pm
1
From today’s Washington Post:
Six months ago, Lambert earnestly forwarded an e-mail to 100 friends and colleagues, warning of a health risk posed by HIV-tainted needles allegedly affixed to the underside of gas pump handles.
Horrified by the story – which a colleague had sent her – Lambert wanted to put out the word.
Now she’s sorry she did.
The report turns out to be a hoax – one of those urban legends that scatter like buckshot across the Internet. But Lambert, chief aide to Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland, didn’t know that. And now her e-mail has spread faster than a head cold at a day-care center – given added gravitas, perhaps, because her name and government title were forwarded right along with the warning.
Now if we could just find the person who originally wrote the damn thing …
Can’t she just change her address to something else, and set an auto-reply message on this one saying “Sorry, I goofed, it’s false, thank you, goodbye”? her network admin should be able to do that in a couple of minutes.
*Originally posted by RalfCoder *
We -are- talking about a government employee. Plus, if she changes her email address, people responding to legitamate emails she sent before this will get the auto-reply.
Well, I work for the Town of Vienna, so there’s a shot someone might come in one day saying "You know, I got the strangest email the other day . . . "
What’s the URL for the debunking argument? Might come in handy:)
