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Step 1
Make a conscious choice to have a healthy amount of skepticism about the emails that are forwarded to you.
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Step 2
Look for red flags hinting at a hoax, such as claims stating that it is not a hoax, an urgent request to forward the email to all of your friends, and signs of being overly dramatic such lots of capitalized words and exclamation marks.
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Step 3
Use your favorite search engine to search for keywords from the email and also include the word "hoax" in your search too. For example, enter "cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies" and "hoax" into the search box. This should bring up links to many good sites that regularly report on such hoaxes.
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Step 4
Alternatively you could go straight to some of these hoax busting sites first. On most of them you will probably find a search box as well. Follow the same procedure as in step 2. You can also browse for various hoaxes on these sites too.
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Step 5
Don't do what the email says if you haven't checked out whether it is legitimate first. Not doing so could at the very least make yourself look stupid...and at the worst put yourself or others at risk.
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Step 6
Delete the email and move on to more important things.
Comments
shenandoah said
on 5/12/2009 Thanks for writing this. SO many people get taken by email hoaxes...
mcccmu said
on 4/28/2009 (first comment got cut off)..and receiver fields, and with some others, the domain is an obvious hoax! Great article 5*
mcccmu said
on 4/28/2009 I've been thinking about writing a similar article; too many people are unfortunately draw in by these hoaxes. Instead of a whole new article, I'll just add one more tip. Pay attention to the sender's address! Some hoaxes put your address in both the sender
mommyhen42 said
on 4/25/2009 nice tips on how to protect yourself from email hoaxes... I get several daily and it is always nice to be aware of other ways to stay safe from these.