Beware of the Horse Dog and other Urban Legends

Is that a real dog? Was the popular Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas really a coded message? Will Microsoft actually pay me for forwarding an e-mail message to all my friends?

You’ve seen these e-mails and others like them. The subject usually begins with “Fwd:” or even worse, “Fwd: Fwd: FWD.” Some attempt to appeal to our emotions with heart-warming or infuriating stories. Others are pleas for help. Many claim you will receive a reward, like cash or luck, just for forwarding the message. What they do have in common, is most of them are untrue. The internet, as well as our in-boxes, overflows with urban legends, frauds, and scams. Fortunately, there are several sites that help you separate the fact from the fiction. Here are some of the librarians' favorites.

• Snopes.com: http://snopes.com/
• Urban Legends and Folklore: http://urbanlegends.about.com/
• ScamBusters.org: http://www.scambusters.org/
• FactCheck.org: http://factcheck.org/
• STATS: http://www.stats.org/

No, the horse dog isn’t real, but this cat is:










Images from www.snopes.com