As an e-zine publisher, you strive to do
the right thing by your subscribers.
When you find an interesting link, you
pass it on. When you write or read an
informative article, you print it. When
you get a piece of information that could
benefit your readers, naturally you make
it known to them.
But, sometimes the inevitable happens and
the percentages of good/bad information
catch up to you.
They did for me.
Recently, I fell prey to a deadly virus
hoax.
It was sent to me by a credible source and
I sent it to my subscriber list via my
list server.
These types of hoaxes serve no purpose except
to confuse and confound people, causing only
worry.
Of course, they can perpetuate themselves in
the form of emails that are sent in REPLY from
unsuspecting readers. They click on their REPLY
button and then hit SEND and emails begin to do
the Hippy Hippy Shake and bounce repeatedly from
one email box to the next.
I'm not sure of the extent of the bounced
emails or if any damage occurred but I know it
caused a ruckus. I received minimal comments
chastising my action, although, in retrospect,
I probably deserved more.
I sent out an apology to list members after
discovering my blunder. Surprisingly, the
reactions were largely supportive and forgiving.
Here are samples of some of the comments:
"Nice to know you're "one of us"."
Roger
"Better to err on the side of caution
than not at all."
Comet
"The 2 virus' you have listed are very well know
hoaxes. Just by spamming the warning you have
propagated the hoax just as a virus would have.
Shame on you!
Do your research before you send out warnings."
Shelly
"Hey, we all get "caught" once in a while!
No apology needed, you were
only thinking in our best interests!"
Sherry
"I also did the same thing once."
Marion
"And Add To The List:
The Homepage Virus Is Doing The rounds again."
Michael
"Please check out any "virus
warning" you receive. Most are hoaxes."
Sharon
"Thanks for the information. It is better to be safe,
and warn your friends and customers, than to be sorry!"
Ben
"You were trying to do the right thing and that's
all that matters."
Cindy
I'm not aware of any unsubscribes due to my
snafu but I did get an online greeting card
to cheer me up.
I learned 2 things from this incident:
1) Treat people right and they will return
it tenfold.
Treat them as you would be treated.
2) Investigate any and all unknown virus claims.
It only takes a couple of minutes to check
out a virus warning to see if it's real or not.
The word propagate is defined as: to transmit
(characteristics) from one generation to another;
to breed or multiply.
Check out these useful and informative sites before
you unknowingly propagate a deadly virus:
http://www.Vmyths.com
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
http://www.hoaxkill.com/
So, take it from a former email viral propagator
victim, investigate that next virus warning before
you send it out, and see if it's on the list.
Otherwise, the hoax will be on you.
About the Author
Ron Kimball lives in Nashville, TNMusic City USA
with his wife and son. He is a songwriter and demo
singer for both country and pop writers. He also
publishes the popular home based business e-zine,
LeaderZKorner, which is geared toward home based
business owners. LeaderZKorner is published weekly
with an accompanying Weekend FREE AD Supplement.
For a FREE subscription: http://www.lzkorner.com
mailto:editor@lzkorner.com