Urban Legends
Urban Legends at About.com
Urban Legends Zeitgeist
urbanlegends.com
snopes2.com
Hoaxbusters

Viruses and Worms
Symantec Virus Center   (Norton Antivirus)
Symantec Virus Hoax List
Command Virus Center  (F-PROT)
McAfee
v-myths.com

Characteristic signs of a hoax or urban legend:

• The #1 sign of an Internet hoax is, "PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT!" This is pretty much a dead giveaway that the story is likely to be false. If it were true, the mainstream media would have covered it already if it were of such earth-shattering importance.
  
  
• If a warning is secondhand, from a friend of the friend who received the warning. Urban folklorists have a name for this: a 'Friend of a Friend' (FOAF) tale and it's one of the classic hallmarks of an urban legends. Just look at the number of e-mails listed before the message.
  
  
• Consider the facts carefully… think critically... do the claims really sound legitimate? Are there logical inconsistencies, violations of common sense and obviously false claims? For instance, would a camera, falling 110 floors from the observation deck of the World Trade Center and found buried in rubble really have survived intact enough for the film to be recovered? Many or these stories can be written off with just a little common sense, before you even really begin to research it.
  
  
• Consider the form of the information passed along to you. Is it a story with a beginning, middle and end? Does it have a 'punch line' similar to a joke? If so, it may be an urban legend.
  
  
• Note whether the story was told AS IF true. Often the teller of an urban legend will even begin with the statement, "This is a true story..."
  
  
• Look for statements like:
  • 'This really happened to a friend of a friend' (or 'the wife of a co-worker,' or 'my brother's housekeeper's son,' etc.).
  • 'Forward this to everyone you know.''
  • This is not a hoax' or 'This is not an urban legend.' They usually mean the opposite of what they say.
    
    
• Have you heard the same story more than once from different sources, with different characters and details? It's probably an urban legend.
  
  
• Does the story seem too good to be true, too horrible, or too funny to be true? If so, it's likely an urban legend and probably NOT true.
  
  
• Look for overly emphatic language, the frequent use of UPPERCASE LETTERS and multiple exclamation points!!!!!!!
  
  
• If the message seems geared more to persuade than to inform, be suspicious. Hoaxers are out to push emotional buttons.
  
  
• If the message purports to give you extremely important information that you've never heard of before or seen elsewhere in legitimate venues, be suspicious.
  
  
• Check for references to outside sources. Hoaxes will not typically name any, nor link to Websites with corroborating information.
  
  

Other Tips:

• Virtually any chain email you receive (i.e., any message forwarded multiple times) is more likely to be false than true. Be skeptical.
  
  
• Hoaxers usually try every means available to make their lies believable -- e.g., mimicking a journalistic style, attributing the text to a 'legitimate' source, etc.
  
  
• Be especially wary of health-related rumors. Most importantly, never act on this type of rumor without first verifying its accuracy with your doctor or other reliable source.

If you receive a story or computer virus warning, take a moment to check it via one or more of the sources above before you send it on to anyone.

Sources:
Urban Legends at About.com
Urban Legends Zeitgeist

Some recent Internet hoaxes and urban legends (all are false)

A photo purporting to show a tourist on the World Trade Center observation tower with the American Airlines jet in the background immediately before the crash.

A message claiming Microsoft must have known beforehand about the attacks because typing Q33NY in the Wingdings font shows a picture of a plane, two documents that look like buildings, a skull-and-crossbones and the Star of David. (Q33NY is not related to any flight number, as is alleged)

A warning that the "Klingerman Foundation" -- which doesn't exist -- is mailing large blue envelopes to American citizens and that inside is a virus that can kill anyone infected with it.

A philandering husband who worked at the World Trade Center told his frantic wife who called him on his cell phone on Sept. 11 at 10 a.m., "What do you mean am I all right? I'm working at the office."

Suspicious men of Middle Eastern descent have been seen videotaping outside the Lincoln Tunnel.

Arab newspaper and food vendors and taxi drivers stayed home from work Sept. 11.

CNN used old footage to fake images of Palestinians dancing in the street after the terrorist attacks.

The "devil's face" appeared in the smoke of the explosion. One can discern a face in photographs, but doctored versions of those photos have also been sent around.

NASA wanted people to light a candle for a satellite photo.

Some 4,000 Jews were warned in advance and stayed home from the Trade Center.