The Ugly
At worst the Internet can lead you to misinformation that could land you in real trouble.
Unfortunately there are a lot of sharks on the Internet - people who want to trick you, misinform you, deceive you and defraud you. Some web sites and emails can be real crime scenes.
Be sceptical, not paranoid!
This page will highlight some classic cases of misinformation on the Internet: Internet hoaxes, urban legends, scams and hate sites.
You need to develop some healthy scepticism when using the Internet for research but there's no need to get paranoid - we've already seen that there's plenty of good stuff out there too. OK, let's get ugly ...
Internet hoaxes
Some web sites are fakes designed to be spoofs, parodies or jokes. This is fine as long as you realise it's a fake and don't take it at face value!
Hoaxes are often about famous people, politics, products or organisations. Their content is humorous and the fact that they are not ‘real' sites can be easy to spot. Some sites even include a disclaimer, just in case you don't get the joke, freely admitting that the web site is a hoax.
World Trade Organization is a parody of a site of the same name produced by the real World Trade Organization
Compare the two:
Official World Trade Organization site [ http://www.wto.org/ ]
Spoof World Trade Organization site [ http://www.gatt.org/ ]
The web design of the spoof is very similar to the official site, and the URL is believable but the content quickly gives it away – especially the main news headline: "WTO Announces Formalized Slavery Market For Africa"
Sometimes fake web sites are designed to make a more serious point, be it political or educational.
A site with a political agenda is the Whirled Bank, which uses its web site as a forum for free-speech to speak out against the World Bank.
Compare the two sites:
Whirled Bank [ http://www.whirledbank.org ]
World Bank [ http://www.worldbank.org ]
You can see that their layout and design is fairly similar, except the fake site takes the opposite argument to that expressed on the real site, thus making a political point.
Urban legends
Urban legends can be harmless but only if you realise they are not actually true!
What are urban legends? They are stories or rumours that have been circulated from person to person. In the past they were spread by word of mouth but now are often spread via email or web sites. Some may originally have contained elements of truth, but have become distorted by mistakes being made in the retelling. Others have been complete fabrications from the start.
Warning: if an email contains a phrase like: "Please, send this message to as many people possible!!!!" it should alert you to the idea that you may be looking at an urban legend and so the last thing you should do is forward the email to anyone.
The Internet is awash with false information, which people endlessly forward on to others believing it to be true. They become SPAM that clogs up the networks and peoples' email, misinforms them and wastes their valuable time.
See some examples of urban legends
Urban legends can be about any topic under the sun, but some common topics are:
Crime warnings: These warn of supposed crime waves eg. attacks on females, dangerous criminals at large, new types of crime sweeping the nation
Free offers: These claim you can receive rewards from various companies by simply passing the email on to other people. Common lures include free mobile phones and gift vouchers.
Computer virus warnings: which are not real, but maliciously designed just to clog up the Internet.
Scams and frauds
Scams and frauds are more serious as they involve criminals trying to steal your identity or con you out of your cash
The Office of Fair Trading describes SCAMS as:
Scheming
Crafty
Aggressive
Malicious
Nigerian "419" email fraud: These are emails from Africa offering to share huge sums of money with you if you let them use your bank to help them get it out of the country. They ask for your bank account details and an administration fee. But it's a scam. If you comply and pay a small administration fee, then there'll be some complication and more money will be requested - again and again. The big money for you will never materialise. At worst you might get an invite to Africa where being held to ransom is a further threat.
Lotteries and Prize Draws: You may get emails saying you are a winner in an overseas lottery or prize draw and asking for your bank account details so that the cash can be transferred. You may also be asked to send money in order to claim your prize. These are scams.
Phishing: Many Internet fraudsters use a technique called "phishing" - sending out hoax emails, which look like they have come from your Bank or other online account such as Ebay Paypal. These often say that there has been a problem with unauthorised access to your account, or that you need to reconfirm your details for security reasons. Links in the email would take you to a page that could look like it belongs to your bank, where you will be asked to enter your passwords and personal information. If you followed these instructions and entered your details you would be enabling the fraudsters to access your accounts. It might be safer to use a search engine to find the web site of your bank than a link in an unverifiable email.
Hate sites
Sadly, the Internet can reflect the worst side of human nature and is sometimes used for defamation or to advocate hate, violence and hostility.
Some web sites with malicious intent have become known as Hate Sites because they disseminate such information. This could be about a person, an organisation, a religion, a political viewpoint - the list is endless.How do you spot the fakes?
A number of web sites exist to expose fake sites and frauds.
If you are unsure if a site is genuine then check these sites to see if it is listed there as a fake. A quick search here could save you a lot of embarrassment!
- Snopes [ http://www.snopes.com/ ] is a really great site for checking out anything you think might be an urban legend, hoax or scam. It keeps a huge archive of examples of urban legends, myths and hoaxes - so if you do have suspicions about an email check this site to see if it is a hoax.
- The Office of Fair Trading: Advice on Scams [ http://www.oft.gov.uk/oft_at_work/consumer_initiatives/scams/ ] gives the official line on what to do if you become a victim of Internet fraud and has good advice on how to spot scams and frauds.
- Scambusters [ http://www.scambusters.com/ ] gives information about how to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, or of frauds such as pyramid selling, or money laundering scams.
Remember, it’s up to you to make sure you don’t degrade your work by quoting misinformation from the Internet. If in doubt, leave it out!
