The following are extracts from the to and fro emails between several email users forwarded to me from my mate. They are unedited to preserve the original expression of various excited dumbers. So pardon the English in quotes.
"OMG!! Today I checked my HSBC account have RM 5,667.10 deposited recently! The monthly statement details shown credited by M/S Bill Gates Foundation. It works!!!
"This is not joke I got $4,672 credited in my ICICI account last week"
"I got $12,101 credited with this months salary, that is why I am sending this to you guys. I am almost going mad. Planning to quit and start a new company. You guys can join hands. What to say yarr????"
"Hey guys !!! this is cool really really cooollllll I forwarded this mail to three chaps just half an hour back and i just forgot about it.. then i saw my salary slip, checked my account in the net. i was wonder stuck to see $30000/- added to my account !! transferred from ms office thru western money transfer !!! its amazing guys !!! Go for it. Act fast. at least before this stupid bill gates gets bankrupt...... and in case this is true, there is not much time left..... so congratulations in advance.... for becoming a millionaire so easily... like me...... "
"Hey dudes and dudettes...this is truly amazing........I got $12,545 a few weeks back......it indeed works.....and hope it works out for all of u........."
"I have also gotten $34271 cheque la st week for the same knid of mail.You can also try your luck "
"I have go tten $17934 cheque some time ago for the same kind of mail. You can also try your luck"
This is the original email that got all those dumbers excited:
When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period. For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a cheque.
This is obviously just another chain letter, another hoax. But my mate forwarded the emails to all his friends with his address and mobile number included. You may wonder what drove people to do such a thing that is obviously dumb. First, ask yourself, "why would Bill Gates give away his money to anyone?" Then play the song 'What I've Done to Deserve This?" from Petshop Boys and ponder upon the first question. If Bill Gates donates his money to the charity, it earns Microsoft and himself good PR. What does he get out of a chain email that promises money to you? Nothing except the title 'Biggest Hoax of the World'.
People who believe in the Bill Gates' chain email are motivated by greed and driven by dumbness, while those who forwarded them for fun are just too bore. Both types have violated the Internet etiquette but the former has a more complicated consquence. Do I need to explain more?
When you send or forward a chain email, It might appear to be as innocuous as sending or forwarding jokes to our friends. But there are consquences to others and to yourself. When you become a part of chain email, you are a bad Netizen because:
- you disrupt email service because you are an accomplice in clogging the network;
- you jam up mailboxes, making them unable to receive further incoming mails;
- you cause expenses to people who pay for email service by the bytes;
- you annoy and harass people;
Even if all the above problems are not yours to bear, think about your own image. A mouse click deletes the chain mail but not the impression about you.
