While most hoaxes are harmless, they can have serious real-world repercussions. In West Palm Beach, Florida this past May, a woman received a blue envelope in the mail. Fearing it contained a deadly virus, she called police, who sent a bomb squad. The envelope contained magazine coupons. The culprit? The "Klingerman Virus," a recent scare spreading – like a virus – across computer screens worldwide. Like so many others, it appears to be a sincere effort to help, as can be seen in these passages from the original message:

I feel it is vital to inform all of my friends about this. This is an alert about a virus in the original sense of the word …one that affects your body, not your hard drive. There have been 23 confirmed cases of people attacked by the Klingerman Virus, a virus that arrives in your real mail box, not your e-mail in box. Someone has been mailing large blue envelopes, seemingly at random, to people inside the US. On the front of the envelope in bold black letters is printed, "A gift for you from the Klingerman Foundation." When the envelopes are opened, there is a small sponge sealed in plastic. This sponge carries what has come to be known as the Klingerman Virus, as public health officials state this is a strain of virus they have not previously encountered …Florida police Sergeant Stetson said, "We are working with the CDC and the USPS, but have so far been unable to track down the origins of these letters …Those who have come in contact with the Klingerman Virus have been hospitalized with severe dysentery. So far seven of the twenty-three victims have died.

This total fabrication eventually ends with the familiar plea to "PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT."

I recently received a worried telephone call from a man who had just returned from shopping at Publix. He proceeded home only to learn from his brother-in-law about infected Costa Rican bananas being sold locally, and his bananas were clearly labeled as a product of Costa Rica. Understandably, he immediately contacted the health department. The real problem? An internet hoax, an email circulating worldwide. Credited to a non-existent "Manheim Research Institute," this message warns of a rare and potentially deadly disease called necrotizing fasciitis that has "decimated the monkey population in Costa Rica," announcing that "the disease has been able to graft itself to the skin of fruits in the region," notably bananas. (This flesh-eating banana scourge borrows on an actual but unusual condition, necrotizing fastiitis, that can occur when streptocuccus bacteria infect the skin through a cut or scratch. The bacteria spread quickly, leaving dead tissue behind).

The email thoughtfully explains that the government hasn’t issued a banana recall or alert for fear of causing a panic, yet follows this with statements such as "If you are more than an hour from a medical center burning the flesh ahead of the infected area is advised to help slow the spread of the infection." Sure.

The list of health-related hoaxes currently or recently circulating through the world’s email stream is long, and is continually growing. "A common facet of these rumors is that people are willing to believe the most outrageous things about governments and large corporations," explains David Mikkelson, who operates the respected Urban Legends website that follows and debunks outrageous claims. David Emory, who tracks urban legends at www.about.com, sums it up well: "I see most of these as pranks, but once the story gets out there, people forward them along for sincere reasons. People are suckers for stories."

One health hoax category especially pulls at the heartstrings: "Save A Dying Child." Here’s a few of the "dying children" to be on the lookout for: Curt Beerman, David Bucklew, Rick Connor, Timothy Flyte, David Lawitts, Tamara Martin, Jessica Mydek, or Craig Shergold. Usually therse are chain emails, often stating that a famous millionaire/billionaire has promised to finance a life-saving operation if enough people forward a message of support to a named individual or corporation. Ask yourself – what kind of philanthropist would dole out help based on an email game? (An interesting, true exception to the Save A Dying Child scam is the Craig Shergold story. Craig actually was a nine year old English boy suffering from cancer in 1989. Friends began a chain letter appeal, hoping to get him listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the greatest number of get-well cards ever received. It worked. Then the plea was picked up on the internet. More cards came …and came and came. They’re still coming. To date over 250 million of them. Craig long ago took his place in the Guinness Book, had an operation and had his cancer go into remission. As of 1997, a happy and healthy Craig Shergold was pleading for the cards to stop. But this seems a hopeless cause, since internet emails seem to take on a life of their own.

So, what to do when a wild health claim or supposed revelation lands in your email inbox (and it will)? Here are a few tips: Be skeptical, always, and be aware that any chain email you may receive is most probably a hoax. Try to determine the source of the information. If it says "This is not a Hoax" or "This is not an urban legend," it almost surely is. If it says, "Forward this to everyone you know – don’t. Clues to a hoax: ALL CAPITALS, lots of !!!!!! and lots of emotion. Check with respected internet sites that specialize in examining urban legends and scams. Among these: The Urban Legends Reference Pages and Dr. Stephen Barrett’s Quackwatch. The CDC (Centers for Disease Prevention and Control) publish responses to specific health hoaxes as necessary.