Internet users are being bombarded with sympathy e-mails full of tearful tales of youngsters in need who ask for help.
For every address to which the e-mail is forwarded, there are promises that specific charities or corporations will donate a few cents to the needy child.
While they appear to rally Internet users for a good cause, most, if not all, of these e-mails are fakes, officials say. There is no child in trouble behind the message.
There is also no technology for tracking forwarded e-mails, making it extremely difficult for anyone to know how many times a message was sent on to somebody else.
These so-called charity forwards flow through e-mail systems across the country, clogging up personal computer mailboxes.
For example, one frequent message says the American Cancer Society will donate three cents toward cancer research as part of 7-year-old cancer patient Jessica Mydek's dying wish. Another says the Make-A-Wish Foundation will pay seven cents toward the hospital bills of 7-year-old Amy Bruce, who it says is suffering from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke and a large brain tumour caused by repeated beatings.
Another making the rounds says BCC Software will donate five cents to help with 7-year-old Kalin Relek's operation for internal bleeding after he was struck by a car.
But it seems none of these 7-year-olds exist.
The American Cancer Society posted a statement on its Web site saying the chain letter e-mail naming them as a corporate sponsor is fraudulent.
'Completely unsubstatiated'
"The story of Jessica Mydek is completely unsubstantiated," it said. "No
fundraising efforts are being made by the American Cancer Society in her
name or by the use of chain letters."
The Make-A-Wish Foundation posted this disclaimer on its Web site: "This request is false, and the foundation has contacted the originator's Internet service provider to pursue the matter." Make-A-Wish said it receives hundreds of inquiries every day about chain letters.
BCC Software told Reuters it is aware of the charity e-mails but the company is not involved with it in any way.
Why do people launch these "sympathetic forwards when it seems they have nothing to gain? Mostly to get attention, experts say.
"It's like a kid throwing a rock into a lake to see how many ripples he can make, only this is more annoying,"
Junkbusters president Jason Catlett said. His anti-junk e-mail firm posts some of the hoaxes on its Web site along with two other hoax-busters, urbanlegends.com and hoaxkill.com.
Consumer Reports said it its December 1999 issue that you can spot a false e-mail if it requests that you forward it to everyone you know and says you "have no heart" or otherwise tries to make you feel guilty for not forwarding it. Even celebrity names have been included in the forwarding hoaxes.
One e-mail claims that Dave Matthews, front man for the Dave Matthews Band, will send his American Online screen name to everyone who forwards an e-mail about Tamara Martin, who has six months to live. The e-mail says he goes online every week.
A spokesperson for Dave Matthews said he is unaware of the e-mail and "absolutely" does not go online every week.
