Money from Microsoft Giveaway Hoax
Summary:Email claims that Bill Gates of Microsoft is "sharing his fortune" with those who forward the email to others (
Full commentary below.)
Status:False
Example:(Submitted, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Here something that you might want to read it was on the news .
Subject: FW: PLEEEEEASE READ!!!! It was on the news!
Dear friends,
Something to share with all of u. Would u believe if this is true? Read
on..... For those who need money badly and this is one opportunity to try
it! I'm an attorney, and I know the law. This thing is for real. Rest
assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their promises for fear of
facing a multimillion-dollar class action suit similar to the one filed by
PepsiCo against General Electric not too long ago.
Dear Friends,
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill
Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later.
Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort
to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program,
Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test. When you forward this
e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft
Windows user) for a two week time period. For every person that you
forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person
that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00
and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00.
Within two
weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a
cheque.
Regards.
Charles S. Bailey
General Manager Field Operations
[CONTACT DETAILS REMOVED]
I thought this was a scam myself, but two weeks after receiving this
e-mail and forwarding it on, Microsoft contacted me for my address and
within days, I received a cheque for US$24,800.00. You need to respond
before the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this Bill Gates is
the man. It's all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many
people as possible. You are bound to get at least US$10,000.00.
We're not going to help them out with their e-mail beta test without getting a little
something for our time. My brother's girlfriend got in on this a few months
ago. When I went to visit him for the Baylor/UT game. She showed me her
check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44 and was stamped "Paid In Full".
Like I said before, I know the law, and this is for real
Intel and AOL are now discussing a merger which would make them the
largest Internet company and in an effort make sure that AOL remains the
most widely used program, Intel and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.
Commentary:
The Money From Microsoft giveaway hoax is one of the most prevalent email hoaxes on
the Internet. There are a number of versions of this hoax, all claiming
that Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates, will give away money or other benefits in
exchange for forwarding emails. In spite of thorough public debunking over
several years, people continue to forward these silly emails in the vain
hope that Bill will share his fortune.
This aging hoax is still circulating and apparently still
convincing email recipients all around the planet that Bill Gates
and AOL will send them a stack of money simply for passing on an
email. The only way to "track" such an email would be to embed
some sort of hidden code in the email. Even if Bill
did decide
that "sharing his fortune" was something that he wanted to do,
I'm pretty confident he wouldn't go about it in this way. In any
case, tracking an email in the way described would raise all
sorts of privacy issues. There have been several hoax emails
that refer to this email tracking concept, all of them equally
nonsensical.
This one, and all of its mutant siblings should be sent directly
to the trash bin.
Another Example:
THIS TOOK TWO PAGES OF THE TUESDAY USATODAY - IT IS FOR REAL
Subject: PLEEEEEEASE READ!!!! it was on the news!
!!!! It was on the news! Kathy South Alcoa - EHS Maintenance
!!!! Coordinator Phone: [Numbers Removed]
To all of my friends, I do not usually forward messages, But this
is from my good friend Pearlas Sandborn and she really is an
attorney.
If she says that this will work - It will work. After all, What
have you got to lose? SORRY EVERYBODY.. JUST HAD TO TAKE THE
CHANCE!!! I'm an attorney, And I know the law. This thing is for
real. Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their
promises for fear of facing a multimillion-dollar class action
suit similar to the one filed by PepsiCo against General Electric
not too long ago.
Dear Friends; Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill
Gates sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, You will repent
later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies
and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the
most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail
beta test.
When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will
track it ( If you are a Microsoft Windows user) For a two weeks
time period.
For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will
pay you $245.00 For every person that you sent it to that
forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every
third person that receives it, You will be paid $241.00. Within
two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then
send you a check.
Regards. Charles S Bailey General Manager Field Operations
1-800-842-2332 Ext. 1085 or 904-1085 or RNX
292-1085 Charles_Bailey@csx.com Charles_bailey@csx.com
I thought this was a scam myself, But two weeks after receiving
this e-mail and forwarding it on. Microsoft contacted me for my
address and withindays, I receive a check for $24,800.00. You
need to respond before the beta testing is over. If anyone can
affoard this, Bill gates is the man.
It's all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many
people as possible. You are bound to get at least $10,000.00.
We're not going to help them out with their e-mail beta test
without getting a little something for our time. My brother's
girlfriend got in on this a few months ago. When i went to visit
him for the Baylor/UT game. She showed me her check. It was for
the sum of $4,324.44 and was stamped "Paid in full"
Like i said before, I know the law, and this is for real.
Intel and AOL are now discussing a merger which would make them
the largest Internet company and in an effort make sure that AOL
remains the most widely used program, Intel and AOL are running
an e-mail beta test.
When you forward this e-mail to friends, Intel can and will track
it( if you are a Microsoft Windows user)for a two week time
period.
TRy it; What have you got to lose????
Write-up by Brett M. Christensen