"RUMORS" AND "WARNINGS" BY STEVE SHULTZ, THE ELIJAH LIST

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Here's something quite different than the normal ELIJAH LIST postings. The reason? Several HUNDRED times a week, I get "emergency virus notice!" or "urgent virus warning" etc. The warning is inevitably followed within the hour by an embarrassed apology that yet another person fell victim to a hoax. It would be funny except damage is often done by these virus warnings. Sometimes, good files are deleted causing future problems.

Each Believer should be a good steward of the Internet. Simply do this: Get a good virus protector, (I use Mcafee at: www.mcafee.com.) Update it several times a week. Subscribe to the email by the virus company which informs you of any new virus. Then delete every virus warning sent to you, no matter how many you get.

Finally, practice safe-email. NEVER open an attachment, even if it's FROM A FRIEND, if you were not expecting it or if you don't know what it is. Most viruses come from friends who do not realize they sent it. All Elijah List employees are taught not to open ANY attachment that they don't know what it is. But again, IF YOU HAVE VIRUS PROTECTION and ALWAYS keep it up, you still can be protected if you accidentally open something you thought was safe.

Now . . . I used to listen to Rich Buhler on KBRT Christian radio in California as my relationship grew in the Lord in the 80's. A great guy and he's a dear friend of a dear friend of mine.

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RICH BUHLER TO BE ON CNN SUNDAY MORNING

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Rich, a Believer will be on CNN in the morning, talking about his eRumor newsletter and his www.truthorfiction.com website. This site is a trusted site to go to --to check out if a given rumor is true or false. As a service to the Body of Christ, I am inserting a copy of his eRumor newsletter just released tonight.

Do yourself a favor and read it. There are many rumors that are answered and clarified. Why not bookmark the site for future reference. You'll save HOURS of time trying to decide if a popular rumor is true or not.

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Here is the TruthOrFiction.com Newsletter

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TruthOrFiction.com richb@truthorfiction.com Saturday, January 05, 2002

To: TruthOrFiction.com Family of Subscribers

From: Rich Buhler

RE: Activities in eRumorland

Happy New Year to all.

As expected, things have been slow through the holidays, but there is some activity to talk about.

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Live Interview on CNN on Sunday

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First, I am scheduled to do a live segment on CNN tomorrow morning, Sunday, January 6, between 10 and 10:30a Eastern Time. There is always the possibility that breaking news could change or interrupt that, but it's scheduled for the moment.

Also...listen for the TruthOrFiction.com eRumor reports on KFWB All News 980 in Los Angeles.

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AOL Instant Messenger Security Hole

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There is quite a bit of talk about a security problem discovered in AOL Instant Messenger. AOL says it's mostly a theoretical issue right now and that there have been no security breaches that they know of. The glitch could allow hackers to gain access to the computers of Instant Messenger users. An AOL spokesman says the problem was on their end, not in the software that the users have, and can be fixed without users having to download new software or patches.

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eRumors that Kill

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Most of the eRumors we all stumble across don't affect our daily lives. They are interesting, humorous, or alarming, but that's about all. One of the things we've wanted to do through TruthOrFiction.com is to not only affirm the principle of trying to get as close to the truth as possible in our everyday lives, but to warn that some rumors and urban myths do cause consequences for people or organizations.

Nothing is a greater example of that than something that is happening in Africa right now.

In portions of Africa, especially South Africa, there is an urban myth that if a man with AIDS has sex with a virgin, he will be cleansed and cured of the AIDS.

Ponder the consequences of that.

Not only is sexual assault against women on the rise, but against children as well and some of the victims end up with AIDS themselves.

We've spoken of the AIDS-virgin cure in many interviews as an example of how serious this can be, but it is now being circulated as part of a request to prevent the closure of the Child Protection Unit in South Africa. That part of it is false, by the way. The Child Protection Unit is not closing down.

The myth is not limited to Africa. It is believed in portions of Asia as well. For details, go to: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/aids-virgins.htm

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Outback and Cracker Barrel Gift Certificates

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These are older eRumors, but running rampant right now. The eRumors have sort of gotten merged. The bottom line is that if you get an email promising a certificate to Outback or Cracker Barrel restaurants, it is a hoax. Neither restaurant, by the way, is involved in the hoaxes. We've gotten a few emails from readers who had complained to the parent companies of the restaurants, apparently thinking that they had circulated the eRumors to get publicity, but without paying off.

The Cracker Barrel eRumor started as an alleged message from the founder of Cracker Barrels saying that he wanted to reach some areas of the country where they were not well known...and he would give you certificates for forwarding the email to as many of your friends as you could.

The Outback eRumor was part of a message in which a company called "RH Power" said it had rented an "email tracker" and wanted to see how well it would work so if you forwarded emails, you'd get Outback certificates.

Now we're seeing versions that say RH Power is going to give Cracker Barrel certificates, or both Cracker Barrel and Outback certificates.

As we've said before, any email that offers you anything in return for forwarding it to others and says it is going to track the results automatically, is one you can delete and forget about. There is no such thing as an email tracker. There is no method being used on the Internet today to track forwarded emails for the purpose of compensating the forwarder or anybody else.

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SULFNBK.EXE False Virus Warning

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I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating because of how widely this is being circulated.

If you get a message that tells you to search for and delete a file named sulfnbk.exe in your Windows command folder, don't do it! It is not a virus, it is a Windows system file. For more details, go to www.truthorfiction.com the we've got the story with a link on the home page.

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Texas Roadside Emergency Number

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There is an eRumor right now that alerts Texas motorists that on the backs of their drivers licenses, there is a phone number that they can use to get free roadside assistance, including towing, at taxpayer's expense. It is true that there is a phone number and it can be used to report emergencies and suspected drug activity, but it's not going to bring free towing and assistance. You'll have to pay for it yourself. That part of the eRumor is not accurate.

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Persecution in Indonesia

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A very widely seen email warned of Christian persecution in Indonesia and that tens of thousands of Christians were surrounded by militant Islamic forces bolstered, in part, by Osama Bin Laden. That was true, but the violence appears to have been averted through peace talks. For more details, go to: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/indonesia.htm

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Poisonous Poinsettias

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We've gotten a lot of reaction to our story about poinsettia plants not really being poisonous to children and animals. That has been the conventional understanding for so long that even a survey of florists found that most of them believed poinsettias to be toxic. The origin of that belief, however, appears to be 90 years old and came from the case of a two-year-old boy who died and it was believed he had ingested portions of a poinsettia plant. That turned out to be hearsay, however, and current research has failed to find any toxicity in poinsettias. Vets say that animals will sometimes have gastrointestinal problems if they eat much of it, but not from poisons. It's the same as if the animal had eaten something like Christmas tinsel. For more details, go to: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/poinsettias.htm

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Nigeria Advance Fee Scams...a New Email Address

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We were contacted by the United States Secret Service this week...to let us know that there is a new and more convenient way to let them know if you've been contacted by the Nigeria scammers. Previously, you had to mail them any information, but now they've set up an email address. We are being pelted with inquiries about the Africa scams, by the way, so be wary. For details, go to: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/nigeriascams.htm

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Christmas.exe Virus Warning

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There has been a lot of activity about a virus warning that brings an attachment named Christmas.exe. It also includes a "Happy New Year" greeting. The warning is true, but has gotten more circulation than the virus has. It's considered a low risk virus right now because of not being very widely circulated, but if you get it, it is a bad one.

We'll keep you posted!

Blessings....

Don't forget: You've got your own email address as a subscriber that you can use to contact us. It is: erumor@truthorfiction.com.