I have received many such email hoaxes over the years but I did not forwarded them to the people I know. Maybe when I was younger, more ignorant and naive, I did so out of good will. After all, it only took a few simple clicks to forward email. And in doing so, save a life.
BUT these emails are SCAMS!! Most are originated by people who had too much time on their hands!
A real needy email asking for help would include a contact number and a contact person. Or even a personalized email address.
And any person with any decent IT knowledge would know that it is NOT POSSIBLE to collect email data that has been forwarded thousands of time! Hence there is no such thing as 7 cents per email forwarded or whatever!!
Now that you know, please DUN forward such email and spam your friends and people you know.
---------------------------
The New Paper
07 Aug 2008
Sad story, but IT'S A HOAX
Make-A-Wish Foundation's name used, but organisation says it is not involved
By Teh Jen Lee
THE story seems tragic - a 7-year-old Indian girl dying of lung cancer and a brain tumour. And you can help save her by simply forwarding the e-mail that carries her picture and her sad story.
The e-mail reads: 'My name is Amirtha. I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer. I also have a large tumour in my brain from repeated beatings. Doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills.
'The Make-A-Wish Foundation has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is sent on.'
The e-mail has been making the rounds, but there is no truth to the story.
BACK IN THE '90s
It is a newer version of a hoax e-mail that started back in the late 1990s. It is not known who the little girl is.
A spokesman for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Singapore told The New Paper that this is the first time it has come across this particular e-mail. She said this e-mail and other chain e-mails do not represent the foundation or its mission, which is 'granting a heartfelt wish to a child between the ages of 3 and 18 years with a life-threatening illness'.
'This is not a Make-A-Wish-originated e-mail and we do not promote or support the use of solicitation of funds through chain letters,' she said.
'The foundation also does not grant monetary wishes to children, neither does the foundation support a child seeking funds in this manner.' She advised people who receive such e-mails to contact the local Make-A-Wish affiliate and seek clarification before forwarding them.
Websites debunking e-mail hoaxes such as www.hoax-slayer.com state that tracking an e-mail requires a tracking script, but this is usually removed by modern e-mail programs for security reasons.
So it would be impossible to collect any accurate data about an e-mail that could be forwarded thousands of times, which means it's not possible to calculate the amount of money to be donated.
Tracking e-mail in such a way would also be considered a privacy infringement so it is unlikely that any ethical charity organisation would knowingly get involved.
Most people view such chain e-mails as a nuisance.
Dr Tharm Sook Keng, 29, a veterinarian, said: 'If I were to get such e-mails, I would most likely delete it. There are so many hoaxes on the Internet. 'The person who started it is probably bored but it affects the charity to a certain extent because people may become desensitised and cynical.'
Undergraduate Wan Chang Chin, 23, said: 'In this day and age, anything can be sent out by anyone, so it's just something we have to deal with. 'I never forward such e-mails. Many people don't think these e-mails are credible, but there are a few who believe and these are the ones who keep the e-mails circulating.'
It's no surprise that the Make-A-Wish Foundation website states that it receives hundreds of enquiries daily about chain letters claiming to be associated with it.
There is a long list of different names used for the child in need, including Amy Bruce, Jeff Deleon, Rhyan Desquetado, LaNisha Jackson, Nikisha Johnson and Jessie Anderson, but the requests are all false.
The website added that the foundation has contacted the originator's Internet service provider to pursue the matter.
One of the names used is based on a real boy, Craig Shergold. In 1989, he was a 9-year-old brain tumour patient who wanted to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most greeting cards.
In 1990, his wish was fulfilled by another wish-granting organisation, not Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he received more than 16 million cards.
Craig is now a healthy adult and has requested an end to the mail. All the mail that is received is forwarded to a recycling centre.
-------------------------
The New Paper
08 Aug 2008
Don't be taken in by e-mail hoaxes
I REFER to the report about a little girl with a brain tumour and lung cancer, for whom a chain e-mail claimed a certain amount of money would be given each time the message was forwarded ('Sad story but it's a hoax', The New Paper, 6 Aug).
It is not just the Make-a-Wish Foundation that has been hit. Such e-mails claim that by forwarding the message, certain large companies will donate money to someone who is sick.
But it should be quite obvious that if someone is doing a good deed and helping the needy, this is not the way to do it.
If a company wants to donate, it can just write a cheque to the needy person. There is no sense in forwarding such an e-mail because by the time the necessary amount is raised, it is likely to be too late for the one who needs it.
People should stop a moment and think before they do something so silly as forward such an e-mail and clog up the e-mail boxes of others.
BUT these emails are SCAMS!! Most are originated by people who had too much time on their hands!
A real needy email asking for help would include a contact number and a contact person. Or even a personalized email address.
And any person with any decent IT knowledge would know that it is NOT POSSIBLE to collect email data that has been forwarded thousands of time! Hence there is no such thing as 7 cents per email forwarded or whatever!!
Now that you know, please DUN forward such email and spam your friends and people you know.
---------------------------
The New Paper
07 Aug 2008
Sad story, but IT'S A HOAX
Make-A-Wish Foundation's name used, but organisation says it is not involved
By Teh Jen Lee
THE story seems tragic - a 7-year-old Indian girl dying of lung cancer and a brain tumour. And you can help save her by simply forwarding the e-mail that carries her picture and her sad story.
The e-mail reads: 'My name is Amirtha. I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer. I also have a large tumour in my brain from repeated beatings. Doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills.
'The Make-A-Wish Foundation has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is sent on.'
The e-mail has been making the rounds, but there is no truth to the story.
BACK IN THE '90s
It is a newer version of a hoax e-mail that started back in the late 1990s. It is not known who the little girl is.
A spokesman for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Singapore told The New Paper that this is the first time it has come across this particular e-mail. She said this e-mail and other chain e-mails do not represent the foundation or its mission, which is 'granting a heartfelt wish to a child between the ages of 3 and 18 years with a life-threatening illness'.
'This is not a Make-A-Wish-originated e-mail and we do not promote or support the use of solicitation of funds through chain letters,' she said.
'The foundation also does not grant monetary wishes to children, neither does the foundation support a child seeking funds in this manner.' She advised people who receive such e-mails to contact the local Make-A-Wish affiliate and seek clarification before forwarding them.
Websites debunking e-mail hoaxes such as www.hoax-slayer.com state that tracking an e-mail requires a tracking script, but this is usually removed by modern e-mail programs for security reasons.
So it would be impossible to collect any accurate data about an e-mail that could be forwarded thousands of times, which means it's not possible to calculate the amount of money to be donated.
Tracking e-mail in such a way would also be considered a privacy infringement so it is unlikely that any ethical charity organisation would knowingly get involved.
Most people view such chain e-mails as a nuisance.
Dr Tharm Sook Keng, 29, a veterinarian, said: 'If I were to get such e-mails, I would most likely delete it. There are so many hoaxes on the Internet. 'The person who started it is probably bored but it affects the charity to a certain extent because people may become desensitised and cynical.'
Undergraduate Wan Chang Chin, 23, said: 'In this day and age, anything can be sent out by anyone, so it's just something we have to deal with. 'I never forward such e-mails. Many people don't think these e-mails are credible, but there are a few who believe and these are the ones who keep the e-mails circulating.'
It's no surprise that the Make-A-Wish Foundation website states that it receives hundreds of enquiries daily about chain letters claiming to be associated with it.
There is a long list of different names used for the child in need, including Amy Bruce, Jeff Deleon, Rhyan Desquetado, LaNisha Jackson, Nikisha Johnson and Jessie Anderson, but the requests are all false.
The website added that the foundation has contacted the originator's Internet service provider to pursue the matter.
One of the names used is based on a real boy, Craig Shergold. In 1989, he was a 9-year-old brain tumour patient who wanted to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most greeting cards.
In 1990, his wish was fulfilled by another wish-granting organisation, not Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he received more than 16 million cards.
Craig is now a healthy adult and has requested an end to the mail. All the mail that is received is forwarded to a recycling centre.
-------------------------
The New Paper
08 Aug 2008
Don't be taken in by e-mail hoaxes
I REFER to the report about a little girl with a brain tumour and lung cancer, for whom a chain e-mail claimed a certain amount of money would be given each time the message was forwarded ('Sad story but it's a hoax', The New Paper, 6 Aug).
It is not just the Make-a-Wish Foundation that has been hit. Such e-mails claim that by forwarding the message, certain large companies will donate money to someone who is sick.
But it should be quite obvious that if someone is doing a good deed and helping the needy, this is not the way to do it.
If a company wants to donate, it can just write a cheque to the needy person. There is no sense in forwarding such an e-mail because by the time the necessary amount is raised, it is likely to be too late for the one who needs it.
People should stop a moment and think before they do something so silly as forward such an e-mail and clog up the e-mail boxes of others.
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