Debbie Shwartz Charity Hoax
Summary:Email claims that AOL will help Debbie Shwartz, a struggling single mother, by donating money every time an email is forwarded to 12 people (
Full commentary below).
Status:False
Example:(Submitted via email, 2003)
Dear Reader
I am a single mother of four kids: ages five, three and a half,
17 month, and two week old baby girl. God has blessed me with
three beautiful, healthy children. Until recently things were
going great for us, even though we struggled financially at times
(my part-time job was not enough to support us).
Then, the tragedy struck on January 13th. My oldest, Matt, got
hit by a car while playing outside. ( The driver never got fined
- it was a hit and run). After agonizingly long weeks of
hospitalization, we did not think he would live but thank godness
is he alive right now ... but barely. He is still in the
hospital in the comatose condition. Doctors say he will be a
vegetable for the rest of his live, for as long as he lives and
even if he does come out of the coma - his brain is too damaged
for him to lead a normal life. My insurance coverage run out and
I can't afford hospital bills. Right now I owe a hospital over
500,000 dollars so far.
Shortly, after the accident has happened, my 87 year old
grandmother, with whom I was really close (she raised me as a
child), suffered a stroke and could not live on her own anymore.
I took her in.
All that happened while I was pregnant with Carissa. Because of
all this severe stress that I've been through, Carissa was not
only a premie but was born with Down's syndrome as well as
chronic colitis. She is also missing fingernails on her right
hand. She is in the hospital as well because she needs to be
monitored 24/7. Right now I am at the lowest point of my life: I
don't have a job - taking care of three sick family members that
are so dear to me is a full time job - I can't afford to pay for
my tiny appartment, my car got taken away because no payment, not
to mention the debt with a hospital!
I know you are not obligated to do anything: you are free to
delete this email without giving it a second thought, but please
listen to the cry from mothers heart! We had worked out a deal
with AOL where for every 12 forwards I will get 15 cents.
Please, don't harden your heart, send this email to everyone on
your list. This is crucial for our survival!! God bless you all!
Sincerely,
Debbie Shwartz
Commentary:
The Debbie Shwartz charity hoax reproduced above is one in a long line of hoaxes
that claim a given company will donate money to a worthy cause in
exchange for forwarding emails. This claim is, and always has
been, pure fantasy.
Any email that tries to convince you that
a company will donate money based on how many times an email is
forwarded is just plain nonsense.
Other charity hoaxes that use similar tactics are the
Rachel Arlington Charity Hoax, and the
Jasmine Thomas Charity Hoax.
This kind of email has been circulating in one form or other for
several years. Names and circumstances change as does the
company allegedly donating the money. Whatever form of the hoax
eventually crosses your inbox, rest assured, it is a work of
fiction.
Write-up by Brett M. Christensen
