Museum of Hoaxes

I just received one of those alarmist chain emails, you know, do this or else ... and forward to all your friends type of deal and if you don't, you're a nasty self-centered enemy of the people and bad karma will get you in the next life. This particular email has been circulating the web since 2004. It tells you the lucky forewarned recipient to immediately register your cellphone number with the No Call Registry OR ELSE YOU WILL BE CHARGED for every telemarketing call because your cellphone is "going public" TOMORROW (or in some versions TODAY), meaning that YOUR NUMBER WILL BE RELEASED TO ALL OF THE TELEMARKETERS IN THE WORLD. (Can't you hear those shrieking violins accompanying the shower slashing scene in Psycho?)

Anyway, every time I get a dire warning such as the above, I smell a hoax (some people smell rats, I smell hoaxes) and I do a little search to find out if I'm right and I always am. I just wish everyone else didn't fall for these pests and forward them without checking their validity. I recommend going to scambusters.org and urbanlegends.about.com and/or doing a quick search on the former site or/and your favorite search engine, such as "cellphones public." Just in case you don't already.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your visit to The Museum of Hoaxes.

Museum of Hoaxes