"Please forward this to everyone you know ..." 

Stop.

Chances are that the virus warning, the urgent plea to help a dying kid, the Internet petition to save PBS, and all the other "read this and pass it on" messages you get in your e-mail are phony. 

Well-intentioned people pass along thousands of copies of these things every month. They result in needless worry, wasted time and - perhaps most bothersome - overloaded mail servers. Even relatively innocent hoaxes - like the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie Recipe" - have become a real strain on Internet resources. 

How to know if the one you receive is genuine? Luckily, others have already done most of the work for you. Here are some excellent Internet resources for investigating chain mail before you pass it on. 

In general, be suspicious if: 

• The message says "send this to everyone you know." 
• It warns about a computer virus in dire language. While there are plenty of legitimate viruses out there, hoaxes and false warnings far outnumber the real thing. Check before you pass it on.
• It promises great riches, amazing free prizes, etc.
• It contains a sob story and asks you to send something (greeting cards, business cards, emails - or money) to a stranger.
• It asks you to "sign" an Internet petition to right some wrong.  

The worst thing about these hoaxes is that, like the boy who cried, "wolf," they cause people to ignore genuine threats. Yes, there are viruses out there. Some of them can be spread by e-mail. If, in the course of checking out a warning message, you find that a virus warning is genuine, then forward it to your system administrator or computer support person, who can advise you of the right way to deal with it, and notify other users if there is a real threat. 

Check for yourself

• The Computer Virus Myths Homepage - The definitive site for virus-related uproar, including an alphabetical list of viruses, real and phony. Often busy, so also see: 
• Threat Explorer Hoax page , sponsored by Symantec 
• The Urban Legend Reference Pages - a great debunking site which examines common contemporary folklore ("Youth gangs flash their headlights to blind drivers and then shoot them! Film at 11!"). The entire site makes fascinating reading, and you use its search tool to check on specific topics. 
• The Hoaxbusters page rom the U.S. Department of Energy
• HoaxKill divides hoaxes into categories (virus warnings, hacker threats, reward offers, etc.), debunks them and also provides a service that will mail an explanation of the hoax to those who sent it to you.

Remember: If it sounds too good - or too bad - to be true, it probably isn't.