Microsoft Email Beta Test Hoax Continues

Summary:
Revamped version of the Microsoft email beta test hoax includes "testimonies" and a bank account screenshot of supposed money received. The message claims that Microsoft will send money to anybody who forwards it to others (Full commentary below).



Status:
False

Example:(Submitted, April 2007)


Commentary:
Multiple versions of this tired old hoax have been circulating since at least 1999. The messages claim that Intel and AOL are running an email beta test and that Microsoft will pay you a quite substantial sum of money each and every time you forward the email to others during a two week time period.

These claims are, of course, totally absurd. No such "beta test" is being conducted. Nor has one been conducted at any time in the past. And Microsoft certainly will not give you money just for forwarding an email.

This version of the hoax sports a series of "testimonies" supposedly added by various recipients who claim to have actually been sent money for forwarding the message. It also includes a bank statement screenshot showing an account with over $40,000 credit. The testimonies and screenshot are just rather lame attempts to add a measure of credibility to this foolish hoax. I dare say the testimonies were simply made up by one prankster or perhaps several working together. Since the bank statement does not include information about where the funds originated, it is virtually meaningless.

Moreover, the message contradicts itself. It claims that Intel and AOL are running the beta test and yet it is Microsoft that is supposedly footing the bill. In one paragraph, it states that Microsoft will pay the forwarder. In the next paragraph, it claims that Intel is the company that will send the cheque. The reason for this apparent confusion is that the message actually combines two earlier variants, one that targeted Microsoft and AOL and another that targeted AOL and Intel.

All versions of this hoax can be traced back to an even earlier hoax that began circulating way back in 1997:

Hello everybody, My name is Bill Gates. I have just written up an e-mail tracing program that traces everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. I am experimenting with this and I need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list will receive $1000 at my expense. Enjoy.

Your friend,
Bill Gates

Considering how long this "beta test" has now been running, even Bill Gates would be bankrupt by now if he was really paying out money for every forwarded email. It is simply ridiculous to suggest that any sane company would even consider participating in such a haphazard and uncontrollable exercise.

Furthermore, in spite of the claims in these messages, there is no reliable or ethical method of tracking who sends a particular email to whom when the message could be expected to be forwarded many thousands of times. Accurately calculating how much money should be sent to how many people would be impossible.

The message claims that recipients have nothing to lose by participating ("Try it, what have you got to lose?). Well one thing you risk losing is your credibility. Being gullible enough to fall for this one is sure to earn you a degree of ridicule from at least a few of those you forward it to, even if they keep their ridicule to themselves. By sending it onward, you also help to clutter inboxes around the world with one more piece of unwanted email nonsense.

For other examples of this hoax, see:
Money from Microsoft Giveaway Hoax

Last updated: 17th April 2007
First published: 17th April 2007

Write-up by Brett M.Christensen