Issue 52 - Hoax-Slayer Newsletter
Issue 52: June, 2005
This month in Hoax-Slayer:
Hoax-Slayer is a Free Monthly Web-Based Newsletter brought
to you by Brett Christensen The Hoax-Slayer Newsletter keeps you informed about the latest email hoaxes and current Internet scams. Hoax-Slayer also features
anti-spam tips, computer security information, pertinent articles and more.
As soon as the newsletter is published each month, subscribers are sent a notification email with a direct link to the latest issue. The Hoax-Slayer Newsletter is
absolutely free and you can easily unsubscribe at any time either by following a link in the notification email or visiting the Hoax-Slayer
Unsubscribe page.
To get your
free subscription, enter your
complete email address in the form below and click the "Subscribe" button. Concerned about giving out your email address online? I will
never sell or give away your email address, or any other personal information, for
any reason what so ever.
Read the
Hoax-Slayer Privacy Policy for more information.
Subscribe to the newsletter via RSS feed
Subscription Options in Detail
Dust-Off Warning Email
Sadly, the information outlined in the email forward below is true. On the 2nd March 2005, 14-year-old Kyle Williams of Painesville Township, Ohio died after inhaling Dust-Off. As outlined in the email, Dust-Off is a product that contains compressed air used for removing the dust from computers. Kyle's father, Jeff is indeed a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio.
Because Dust-Off and similar products contain a seemingly harmless product - compressed air - parents and children may not realize how dangerous inhaling them can be.
The company that manufactures Dust-Off has the
following information on its
website:
As a leading manufacturer of one of the world's most versatile aerosol products, Falcon recognizes that among the issues surrounding aerosol product distribution and usage is that of inhalant abuse or "huffing". It is imperative that consumers of aerosol products, parents and children all understand the seriousness of this practice.
Dust-Off cans also carry the following warning:
A cleaning duster is a serious product. Inhalant abuse is illegal and can cause permanent injury or be fatal. Please use our product responsibly.
Inhalant abuse, or "huffing", is a serious problem that has killed and maimed many children and young adults around the world. It is important that parents and guardians educate themselves and their children about inhalant abuse. The
National Inhalant Prevention Coalition website is an excellent resource on the subject.
As a parent, my heart goes out to Kyle's grieving family. Perhaps we can help to prevent similar tragedies by taking steps to let others know about the dangers of inhalant abuse.
References:
Subject: FW: : Dust Off - A deadly drug
Dust Off- A Serious Fatal Hazard
First IM going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor . He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.
I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.
On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 AM the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.
I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.
I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.
Kyle's death
Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also contains a propellant. I think its R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas.-Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian roulette. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open.
The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
It's easy to say hay, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.
After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.
We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs.
Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They know about it.
April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.
Premium Rate Phone Fraud Police Warning Hoax
Variations of the hoax email replicated below have been circulating since at least 2004. The email claims that victims are being duped into participating in premium rate phone calls that are charged at £20 per minute. It also claims that a mobile phone scam results in victims being charged £50 per minute.
The latest version pretends to be a "Warning from the Police" and includes a date for May 2005. It also claims that the police have verified the message as genuine.
In spite of these efforts by the hoaxsters to add credibility to the message, the claims in the email are untrue. The message does not originate from the police. The
ICSTIS has debunked these claims on its website.
Information on the ICSTIS website states that:
£20.00 per minute and £50.00 per minute premium rate tariffs do not exist - the highest premium rate tariff available is £1.50 per minute. Despite the dozens of enquiries received by ICSTIS about these 'scams' (and most people appear to have heard about them second or third-hand), not one person who claims that it has actually happened to them has been able to produce a phone bill to support their story.
ICSTIS urges any individual or organisation that receives an e-mail about these 'scams' to delete it immediately. Please do NOT forward it to others.
The false information in the email about mobile phone "scams" has also circulated as a separate message. In the version above, the two "scams" have been combined.
These messages contain false information and should not be forwarded.
An example of the hoax message
Phone Fraud - Warning from the Police 11.5.05
We have been advised of a telephone fraud currently in operation -this applies to home and work telephones, landlines and mobiles.
If you receive one of these calls, upon answering the telephone you will hear a recorded message congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to an exotic location. You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that costs approximately £20 per minute.
Even if you disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes costing around £ 100. The final part of the call involves you being asked to key in your postcode and house number, which has other serious consequences. After a further 2 minutes you will receive a message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners.
The total bill by then will be £100.
Since the calls are originating from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to HANG UP before the message prompts you to dial 9, even safer HANG UP on any unsolicited 'free offer calls'.
There is another scam operating on mobile phones as well. A missed call comes up. The number is 0709 020 3840, the last four numbers may vary, but certainly the first four will remain the same. If you call this number back you will be charged £50 per minute.
People have complained about their phone bills, once they have realised the cost of the call, but apparently this is completely legal.
So beware, do not call back numbers beginning with '0709'.
The above was passed to me by a member of staff. On checking with Police it is genuine.
Mars, Earth - Closest Approach in Recorded History
Someone has recently resurrected and sent off the message below and it is once again being passed from inbox to inbox. Although the year is not specifically mentioned in the message, recipients may naturally assume that it is referring to the current year, 2005.
The events outlined in the message were more or less true back in 2003 although they were a little hyped even then.
According to NASA, on August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars were the closest they have been for around 60,000 years. Mars was indeed a
spectacular site in the night sky during several months of 2003.
However, this fact is not quite as earth shattering as you might think. A
2003 NASA article on the subject explains that:
Much has been made of the fact that the August 27th encounter with Mars is the closest in some 60,000 years. Neanderthals were the last to observe Mars so favorably placed. This is true. It's also a bit of hype. Mars and Earth have been almost this close many times in recent history.
Mars will in fact
pass close to Earth once again in 2005, although it will be at its closest on October 31st rather than August 27th. However, the red planet will not pass quite as close as it did in 2003. In 2003, Mars came within approximately 34 million miles of Earth. In late 2005 it will pass at about 43 million miles.
In reality, this distance gap will probably not make a great deal of difference to casual observers on the ground. Mars will still be a spectacular and compelling site in the night sky in late 2005 in spite of the fact that it will not be quite as close to Earth as it was in 2003. What's more, these
close encounters are not such uncommon events.
Thus the claim that "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!" is a little misleading. It is true that the next time Mars will be as close to earth as it was in 2003 will be on August 28, 2287. In the mean time however, there will be plenty of other close approaches, so our children and our children's children are not likely to miss out altogether.
Perhaps by 2287 some of our descendents will be observing the close encounter from the Martian perspective.
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.
Share this with your children and grandchildren.
NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!
Email Security Tip – Forward Responsibly
Along with the junk mail that arrives in our inboxes, there may be quite a few gems that just
beg to be forwarded. These may be jokes, funny photos or videos, useful information, interesting web links or just juicy bits of gossip. The "forward" function of our email program enables us to fire off these missives to one, a few, or all of the email addresses in our address book with just a few mouse clicks. As easy as pie!
In fact, email forwarding is almost too easy! While the ability to forward messages is a very valuable aid to effective email communication, the forward function should be used responsibly. Before you forward an email to multiple recipients, there are important factors that need to be considered:
- Willingness to receive:
There is a fundamental question that is very frequently overlooked by the forwarding fraternity. The question is, "Does the recipient actually want to be sent all these forwarded emails?"
If you are on a slow dial-up Internet connection, it can be very irritating to continually receive large emails that take a considerable time to download. Furthermore, your recipient's opinions about what is funny, intriguing, or important might diverge rather sharply from your own.
More importantly, the recipient might be rightly concerned about the privacy and security risks inherent in multiple forwarded emails (see below).
In short, if you forward a lot of emails to a lot of people, it is simply good etiquette to give your recipients the chance to "opt out" of future mailings. In other words, take the time to ask the recipient if he or she wants to receive your forwarded emails. The truth is that some of your recipients may prefer that you did not forward emails to them, but are too polite to tell you.
- Privacy and Security:
If you forward an email to multiple recipients in the normal way, recipients will be able to easily view each other's email addresses. The email is likely to be forwarded many more times and it will carry an expanding list of email addresses along with it, including those of your friends and family. Some of your recipients may not appreciate the fact that their private email address has been clearly revealed to dozens or hundreds of total strangers.
Ultimately, this list of email addresses may well find its way into the hands of spammers who will send you and other people on the list irritating and intrusive junk email.
I go to a lot of trouble to protect my private email address from spammers, so I do tend to get irritated when I am forwarded an email and realize that my email address has been blasted across cyberspace to dozens of strangers without my permission and its continued transmission is totally beyond my control.
Luckily, there are a couple of very easy steps you can take
to protect the privacy of your recipients and help to reduce spam.
Firstly, be sure to remove any previous email addresses displayed in a message before you forward it. Secondly, be sure to use the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) function of your email program when forwarding a message to multiple recipients.
- Protecting your own email address:
Even if you do remove previous email addresses and use BCC,
you need to be aware that your private email address might well end up being sent onward and displayed in email inboxes across the planet. Once you click the "Send" button, you have very little control over where or to whom your email address is subsequently displayed. However, you can reduce the risk by asking your recipients to remove your email address before forwarding. You could also use a throwaway email account just for forwarding purposes.
Many users are simply not aware of the privacy and security issues
connected to forwarding emails. You can take an active role in helping to protect user privacy and reducing spam by making others aware of these issues.
Dr John Holt Email Petition - Microwave Cancer Therapy Email
The case described in the email below is a real one. There has been a lot of controversy over many years regarding Perth based Dr John Holt's microwave therapy treatment for cancer sufferers. Many of his patients and advocates maintain that his treatment is effective and has saved a number of lives. Others in the medical and scientific community denounce the treatment.
The
A Current Affair report mentioned in the email was shown in August 2004. As the program and other sources maintain, it appears that Dr Holt's cancer treatments deserve, at the very least, an unbiased and comprehensive examination. Thankfully, it appears that such a study is at last being conducted.
According to an
article on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) website, an interim report on the case has now been provided to the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Tony Abbott MP and a more thorough audit is currently being conducted.
The
article states that:
Following a meeting and ongoing consultations with Dr Holt, the Review Committee has commenced a comprehensive audit of the medical records of a number of Dr Holt's past and present patients. The patient audit will include a comparison of the effectiveness of Dr Holt's current and previous microwave (UHF radiowave) cancer therapies with conventional cancer therapies.
The final report is expected to be provided to the minister in mid 2005. In view of this fact, this email petition is now becoming somewhat outdated. The preparation of this report has been almost unforgivably slow and the email's call to pressure the Australian Government on the issue can certainly be justified. However, an email petition is probably not a good method of exerting this pressure. In my opinion, email petitions of this nature are almost totally ineffective. There are much more productive ways to help a cause you believe in than "signing" an email petition. For more about the intrinsic worth of email petitions see:
Dr Holt's treatments are controversial and they have polarized the Australian medical community. The list of links below should provide more in-depth information about Dr Holt and his treatment for those who wish to explore this issue more thoroughly:
- NHMRC: Review of Microwave (UHF Radiowave) Cancer Therapy
- ACA Story: (Includes video of original segment)
- Review of Dr Holt's microwave cancer therapy
- Dr. Holt Support
- Microwave Therapy
- Ministerial Media Release: NHMRC REVIEW OF MICROWAVE CANCER THERAPY
Subject: Dr John Holt
Recently "A Current Affair" aired a story on Perth based surgeon Dr. John Holt, whom many believe has a cure for some forms of cancers.
The National Health & Medical Research Council committed to conduct a review of Dr Holt's method of cancer treatment, Microwave Cancer Therapy. The original date for the review was to be provided to the Minister for Health by 21st December 2004, this deadline passed and then another was set and another passed and so on.
The result of these delays is that Dr Holt, who is 80 years of age and who has cured thousands of people of many forms of cancer will be closing his practice on 30th June 2005. This will be a real tragedy especially to all of his patients and potential patients when conventional medicine tells them there is nothing that can be done.
Please help ordinary Australians who finally have a chance to beat cancer to keep this treatment here.
We the undersigned demand that the Australian Government, and Department of Health and Ageing, act swiftly and responsibly to ensure that, this treatment and its founder be acknowledged and accepted as a real form of cancer treatment.
INSTRUCTIONS - Please number and place your name at the end of this list. Then forward this email to all of your contacts who believe in the right to life. Remember that to enable you to add your name to the list, you must first click on the 'forward' prompt at the top of your screen.
If you are the 50th person on this list, please forward this email to
The Minister of Health & Ageing,
Tony Abbott :
Tony.AbbottMP@aph.gov.au
tony.abbott@dewr.gov.au
health.advisory.cttee.nhmrc@nhmrc.gov.au
and then clear the list of names back to number 1, place your name there and forward to all of your contacts.
Thankyou for your assistance in attempting to save Doctor Holt and the lives of thousands of cancer sufferers.
[LIST OF NAMES REMOVED]
Michael Jackson Suicide Message Points to Trojan
An email claiming to contain breaking news about singer Michael Jackson is currently hitting inboxes. The email claims that Jackson has attempted suicide and urgers the recipient to click on a link to read more information.
However, clicking the link leads the recipient to a website that attempts to download and install a malicious trojan on the user's computer. According to Sophos, the malicious website displays a message that the site is too busy. However, this is just another trick. While users are waiting to access the "busy" site, malware is being downloaded to their computer without their knowledge. The malware is a variant of the Borobt-Gen trojan.
Jackson's high profile and the current media frenzy surrounding the singer's trial mean that many curious recipients will be lured into clicking the link included in the email.
If you recieve this email DO NOT CLICK ON THE INCLUDED LINK.
Reference:
Michael Jackson suicide spam leads to Trojan horse, reports Sophos
Subject: Re: Suicidal aattempt
Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt.
They suggest this attempt follows the last claim was made against the king of pop. 46 years old Michael has left pre-suicid note which describes and interpretes some of his sins.
Read more...
Reporting Phishing Scams
Readers often ask me to let them know how they can report
phishing scams they have received. Your submissions help to
increase awareness of phishing scams and allow anti-phishing
websites and targeted institutions to maintain up-to-date
information about current phishing threats.
If you have received a phishing scam, you can report it to The Anti-Phishing Working Group.
You may also be able to report phishing scams to the targeted
institution. Contact the targeted institution to find out where to
submit copies of the scam messages. This information is often
included on the institution's website.
Complaints about Internet scams can also be lodged via the
Internet Fraud Complaint Center which is co-sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White
Collar Crime Center (NW3C).
As well, you may submit examples for use on the Hoax-Slayer
website. You can forward examples of phishing scams to the
following email address. Examples submitted to Hoax-Slayer may
be used on the website to help keep Internet users aware of these
sorts of scams. Please note that I cannot reply to these
examples:
hoaxslayer@gmail.com
I have recently updated the phishing scam information on the
Hoax-Slayer site. I have now included quite comprehensive
information about how phishing scams work, common characteristics
of phishing scams and what to do if you receive such a scam.
You can view the updated information via the link below:
Anti-Spam Tip: Fake Subscription Trick
Spammers often try to imply that you have actually subscribed to
their trashy adds. That is, they try to make recipients believe
that they have signed up for their "newsletter" and therefore
explicitly given permission for them to email you. Some recipients
may actually be tricked into thinking that they have subscribed to
the mailings and then subsequently forgotten about it. In fact, no
such subscription based newsletter exists.
If you click the "unsubscribe" link in these spam emails, you may
receive even more spam. Anybody who tries to "unsubscribe" in this
way is just letting the spammer know that his or her email address
is valid. The spammer can then confidently send you even more spam,
with the happy knowledge that your account is active and that you
actually read your email. If someone is unscrupulous enough to send
you unsolicited advertising material in the first place, it is
quite unlikely that he/she/it will honour a request to stop
sending it.
Neiman Marcus Cookie Hoax - $250 Cookie Recipe
This email forward declares itself to be a "great story". While it may well be a great story - a tale of an ordinary person striking a decisive blow against a large and greedy business entity is bound to be a popular one - it is a story of the fictitious variety. There is simply no truth at all in this tale. Neiman Marcus does not sell its cookie recipe for $250 or even $2.50. Neiman Marcus has rather elegantly debunked this hoax by openly publishing the recipe on its website, along with the following disclaimer:
An urban myth is a modern folk tale, its origins unknown, its believability enhanced simply by the frequency with which it is repeated. Our signature chocolate chip cookie is the subject of one such myth. If you haven't heard the story, we won't perpetuate it here. If you have, the recipe below should serve to refute it. Copy it, print it out, pass it along to friends and family. It's a terrific recipe. And it's absolutely free.
Very similar tales have been around for many a long year. During the 1920's there was a popular urban legend involving the unintended purchase of an exorbitantly priced Red Velvet Cake recipe from New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Another equally untrue version of the story targeted the Mrs Fields company during the 1980's. This version involved a chocolate-chip cookie recipe and was remarkably similar to the Neiman Marcus story, even down to the $250 price tag.
In fact, the Neiman Marcus cookie hoax is just the latest reworking of these older stories. The actual recipe included with the email tends to vary somewhat. Other details and circumstances outlined in the email may also vary. Whatever the details, this email should not be forwarded. By all means try the recipe. If the resulting cookies are good, you might even want to share it with your friends. But, if you do share the recipe, be sure to leave out the nonsense about Neiman Marcus charging $250 for it.
Subject: FW: COOKIE RECIPE!
A GREAT STORY...And a delicious recipe!!!!!
THIS IS A TRUE STORY!
My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in
Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus cookie." It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not, but you can buy the recipe."
Well, I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty-it's a great deal!" I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to my tab.
Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe-$250.00". That was outrageous!
I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress
said it was "two fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because, according to them,
"What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money at this point."
I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Texas. I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back."
I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus...for free. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you ripped off!" and slammed down the phone.
So here it is!
Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny from this recipe!
NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
2 cups butter
24 oz.chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
Cream the butter and both sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking
powder, and soda.
Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts.
Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.
PLEASE READ THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS! THE COOKIES ARE REALLY TERRIFIC!! Even if the people on your e-mail list don't eat sweets, send it to them and ask them to pass it on. Let's make sure we get this lady's $250.00 worth. Enjoy the cookies, they are good
Recommend Hoax-Slayer and get Free eBooks
Do you find the Hoax-Slayer Newsletter useful and informative?
If so, then perhaps your friends will as well. It would be great
if you would recommend the newsletter to a friend! Word of mouth
is still one of the best methods of promotion around.
For taking the time to recommend the newsletter, I'm offering the
following free eBooks for you to download.
- 101 Hilarious Jokes
- Funniest News Stories
- Soap Arts - 64 Recipes for you Body and Bath
- Baby Tips for New Parents
- The Creative Homemaking Guide to Casseroles
- Learn To Crochet Quickly And Easily
- Home security - How to Protect Your Family and Your Property
- Embracing Mother Earth
To get the free eBooks, follow the steps below:
1. Start a new email addressed to one or more of your friends and
add your personal recommendation.
2. Copy and paste the message in the box below to the email.
A note from the publisher:
Hoax-Slayer is a free monthly newsletter brought to you by Brett
Christensen. Get news on the latest email hoaxes and current
Internet scams delivered direct to your in-box. Hoax-Slayer also
features anti-spam tips, computer security information, pertinent
articles and more.
If you would like to subscribe to the Newsletter, visit the
Hoax-Slayer homepage and fill in the subscription form:
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/
3. Send your recommendation email and then drop me a line to let me know.
(Don't send me the email addresses of your friends, as I feel
that would be an infringement of their privacy. Just let me
know that you've sent a recommendation. I'll just take it on
trust.)
After I receive your message, I'll reply with a link to a page
where you can download your eBooks.
Thanks!
Hoax-Slayer News and Service Blog
I have recently initiated a News and Service Blog for Hoax-Slayer.
This blog will allow me to quickly and easily provide information
about site updates and new site projects. It will help me to keep
interested subscribers and visitors in the loop about Hoax-Slayer
happenings. It will also allow visitors and subscribers another
means of offering feedback about Hoax-Slayer via the blog's
Comment facility.
Comments are welcome!
The Hoax_Slayer Newsletter is published by:
Brett M.Christensen
Queensland, Australia
All Rights Reserved
©Brett M. Christensen, 2008
Questions or Comments