Snopes it before you forward it

If there’s one thing I hate more than spam mail by strangers it’s those annoying forwards sent by friends. I’m sure you have all received them, or perhaps you’ve even sent them yourself. In case you are clueless as to what I’m talking about, here are some examples of those forwards:

Video Clip:
“If you send this to 7 people you will see a little dancing taco bell dog run across your screen ~ you have to send it to 7 people or else it won’t work!
It is so cute wait until u see it”

7 Year old dying of cancer:

“Little Jessica Mydek is seven years old and is suffering from an acute and very rare case of cerebral carcinoma. This condition causes severe malignant brain tumors and is a terminal illness. The doctors have given her six months to live.

As part of her dying wish, she wanted to start a chain letter to inform people of this condition and to send people the message to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment, a chance that she will never have. Furthermore, the American Cancer Society and several corporate sponsors have agreed to donate three cents toward continuing cancer research for every new person that gets forwarded this message. Please give Jessica and all cancer victims a chance.

Send a copy of this to everyone you know and one to the American Cancer Society at acs@aol.com.”

Carjacking:
“WARNING FROM POLICE
> THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN
> BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE–
> NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)’
Head up everyone! Please, keep this circulating.. You walk
across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You
start the engine and shift into Reverse.
When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your
parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the
middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your
doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or
whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you
reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear
out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They
practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.
And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the
car. So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your
money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity
are now compromised!

BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window,
just drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that
you read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends
and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of
personal information and identification documents, and you
certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.
Please keep this going , and tell all your friends.”

Swiffer WetJet harmful for pets:
Soon after his dog’s death, his housekeepers’ two cats also died of liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups on their floors. Necropsies weren’t done on the cats, so they couldn’t file a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many people as possible so they don’t lose their animals.

Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution, then licking it’s own paws, and the dog eating from its dishes which were kept on the kitchen floor cleaned with this product, it ingested enough of the solution to destroy its liver.
I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he’s outside, someone’s with him, so the idea of him getting into something unknown was hard to believe. My neighbor started going through all the items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed, in very tiny print, a warning which stated “may be harmful to small children and animals.” He called the company to ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that antifreeze is one of the ingredients. (actually he was told it’s a compound which is one molecule away from anitfreeze).

I could post a lot more examples, but you get the picture. When you first read these types of e-mails, your natural reaction is to believe everything that is being said & to immediately forward it to as many friends possible. The worst part is when you end up getting the same forward by a bunch of your friends because they all believed what it was saying.

I cannot tell you how many times I have told my friends to check something on Snopes before they decide to forward something to everyone, yet they just don’t seem to listen. If you’re not familiar with Snopes, it is an urban legend website where they take the time to research thousands of hoaxes, including these e-mail forwards.

A lot of time can be saved by everyone if people would take the time to quickly read about it on Snopes before forwarding it to their friends. So I say this again, Snopes it before you forward it!

*For the record, ALL of the above examples I posted are FALSE.