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30 Apr 2007

Tell everyone you know! [UPDATED]

There's another old old story doing the rounds here in NZ, concerning someone in a carpark offering cheap purfume that turns out to be ether.

Poppycock! Stuff and nonsense!

It's an urban legend.

The warning signs are there in the story:
- The story sounds plausible to someone who doesn't understand how ether works [ether has a very strong "fumy" smell, not pleasant like perfume; it would take a strong dose e.g. on a rag pressed over the victim's mouth & nose to cause unconsciousness]
- It happened (or nearly happened) to 'someone else', never the storyteller
- The storyteller is taken in by the story and is keen to tell everyone else
- Emails end with "Tell all your friends!" and/or "Tell your women friends!" and impart a sense of urgency

Best of all, the urban legend is systematically dismantled on www.Snopes.com. If you want to pass on a good piece of advice to all your friends, tell them about Snopes dotcom.

UPDATED 10th May: Aside from Snopes, a CERT Cybertip on hoaxes recommends the following sites: Urban Legends and Folklore; Hoaxbusters; Truth Or Fiction; Symantec; and McAfee.

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