Net4TV Voice: Hoax Report: No Chat Charges

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Hoax Report: No Chat Charges, No Need to Worry

By Nancy McPoland
(July 2, 2000)

Letters, letters, we get letters! Our Net4TV Voice inbox overflowed this week with e-mail from concerned users over two items that are making a widespread appearance across the Internet. In both cases, we can only repeat, DELETE, DELETE, DELETE. WebTV is NOT going to charge you to chat, and there is no need to panic over AIDS-laden syringes at your gas stations. Both are hoaxes, perpetuated by folks who sit back and laugh at the hysteria they create, and reap the benefit of seeing not only how many people get involved, but collect your e-mail addresses for their own purposes as well.

Remember, despite the dire-sounding tone of these multi-forwarded hysterical calls to action, if there were truly any cause for concern, the national media and Internet press would be all over these stories. In the case of the WebTV story, WebTV has each and every member's e-mail address as part of your registration, and would certainly release a press statement of any rate increase.

We are continuing our collection of examples of Internet hoaxes, pranks and chain mail, and have opened a new collection box to better serve you. You can now forward copies of the e-mail you're concerned about to hoax@net4tv.com and we'll investigate.

WebTV Chat Charges?

Attention! WebTV announced today that there will no longer be free chat rooms. You will have to pay an extra seven dollars and ninety-five cents ($7.95) monthly to use any chat service. This E-mail will be used as a petition and every user @WebTV.net from this mailing list will be added to the list of signatures for this petition. I strongly urge you all to forward this E-mail to ALL Webtv users on your mailing lists. On the date of August 7, 2000 who ever has this e-mail please cut copy and paste the list of names and go to http://www.talkcity.com/help/egain/ and fill out the form for this petition. Paste this list of WebTV user names on this form under the subject of Chat Petition. Webtv and Talk City have agreed that if there are at least 500,000 "signatures" on this petition they will disregard the chatting fee.
Thank You, WebTV Staff

Reader Nan Brown, AKA Hoaxbuster, contacted Talk City and shares their response with us:

Response from Talk City
egainfeedback@corp.talkcity.com
Date: Thu, Jun 29, 2000, 11:34am (CDT-2)
Subject: wish to address the issue of paying for chat rooms [#1380266]

Hello there ,

This is definitely a hoax. Talk City has no plans to charge for chat, and we've contacted WebTV. They have no plans for adding a surcharge either. There has been no announcement by either company, and there are no plans by either company to bill for chat. Please share this information with anyone who asks. Thank you.
************************
Bruce Selzler
Customer Support Manager
bselzler@corp.talkcity.com
http://www.talkcity.com/help/egain

We also have a response in alt.discuss.webtv.users from the moderator:

FROM WEBTV

moderator Subject: Re: Increase in rates for chatroom links?
Only a "RUMOR". Thanks for asking and have a pleasant day.
-cv
webtv.users moderator
webtv networks

And here is an official response from WebTV:

From: Susan Watson, susanwat@microsoft.com
To: dexter@net4tv.com

WebTV is definately NOT charging subscribers to chat on the WebTV service. Please include this in your hoax report.

Susan

There you have it, folks. We don't think you can get much clearer than that. Ignore the hysteria, delete any copies of the forwarded message you receive, tell your friends, and relax and enjoy your no-extra-charge chatting.

Fill 'er Up with HIV?

DANGEROUS PRANK:

Please read and forward to anyone you know who drives. My name is Captain Abraham Sands of the Jacksonville, Florida Police Department. I have been asked by state and local authorities to write this email in order to get the word out to car drivers of a very dangerous prank that is occurring in numerous states.

Some person or persons have been affixing hypodermic needles to the underside of gas pump handles. These needles appear to be infected with HIV positive blood. In the Jacksonville area alone there have been 17 cases of people being stuck by these needles over the past five months. We have verified reports of at least 12 others in various states around the country. It is believed that these may be copycat incidents due to someone reading about the crimes or seeing them reported on the television. At this point no one has been arrested and catching the perpetrator(s) has become our top priority.

Shockingly, of the 17 people who where stuck, eight have tested HIV positive and because of the nature of the disease, the others could test positive in a couple years. Evidently the consumers go to fill their car with gas, and when picking up the pump handle get stuck with the infected needle. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO CAREFULLY CHECK THE HANDLE of the gas pump each time you use one. LOOK AT EVERY SURFACE YOUR HAND MAY TOUCH, INCLUDING UNDER THE HANDLE. If you do find a needle affixed to one, immediately contact your local police department so they can collect the evidence.

PLEASE HELP US BY MAINTAINING A VIGILANCE AND BY FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO DRIVES. THE MORE PEOPLE WHO KNOW OF THIS THE BETTER PROTECTED WE CAN ALL BE.

Another scarelore makes its Internet debut. There's NO evidence that it is anything but a hoax, and internal consistencies in the e-mail itself, including the fact that the police officer doesn't exist, make it almost certain that it's yet another prank.

References: Gas Trick Upset at Snopes.com

It's a Hoax Press Release from Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

Are these stories true? CDC FAQ concerning needle sticks--there's no evidence this has ever happened outside the health-care scenario.

Rain Forest Danger?

Brazilian congress is now voting on a project that will reduce the Amazon forest to 50% of its size. The area to be deforested is 4 times the size of Portugal and would be mainly used for agriculture and pastures for live stock...

All the wood is to be sold to international markets in the form of wood chips, by multinational companies...

The truth is that the soil in the Amazon forest is useless without the forest itself. Its quality is very acidic and the region is prone to constant floods. At this time more than 160.000 square kilometers deforested with the same purpose, are abandoned and in the process of becoming deserts.

We cannot let this happen. Copy the text into a new email, put your complete name in the list below, and send to everyone you know. (Don't just forward it cos then it will end up with rows of >>>'s )

If you are the 100th person to sign please send a copy to fsaviolo@openlink.com.br

Whether or not this eco-disaster petition ever was true, it's no longer useful and should be ignored. Rain Forest Petition at About.com gives the details, including news story links detailing the Brazilian Congress's decision to drop the proposal.

Just For Fun

This is a "DIY" virus. I have unfortunately been very busy lately and haven't had the time to write a virus. So please take a couple of minutes to open Windows and randomly delete 10 or 12 files, (including a minimum of 3 system files) and then send this e-mail on to everyone on your mailing list. Thank you for your co-operation.

Yes, this is a JOKE, don't do it and don't pass it along.

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