I HATE Spam!!

I hate spam, be it email or sms.

u noe how there're so many different kind of spam email now.

there's the regular chain email tat claims tat some big company is gifing away free stuff if u forward the mail & CC the company.

and the nigeria scam tat involves emails tat tell u u inherited some money or they need ur help to claim some 'unclaimed' money. but first u need to pay a small fee for it. sounds incredible?? the australians haf lost millions to the nigeria scam.

den there's phishing. i got such a mail yrs back before the term phishing is widely used. it claimed to be from citibank & becoz the email addy looks so authentic, i was nearly tricked into giving my PIN & cardnumber on the bogus website. luckily, i realised it as the URL of the website it directed mi to looks suspicious. but design & layout of the website looks very authentic too! it was an exact replica of citibank's website.

but wat prompted mi to haf such an adverse reaction was the sms i got tis morning from 2 of my friends who didn't know each other.

the contents of the sms urges us to pass the sms on abt a 4 yr old ger hoo needed negative O blood in Nam Hwa Eee Hospital. it oso listed a local handphone number.

i questioned the first fren hoo forwarded it to mi if she noes anything abt Nam Hwa Ee hospital. She hasn't heard abt it but being a kind soul, she still decided to pass on the sms.

i tried calling the handphone number listed but the fone was off. den i used yahoo search for Nam Hwa Ee but didn't manage to find any info for tis hospital.

i told my fren to tell everyone she has sent the msg to, to stop forwarding it until it is verified.

i am not unsympathetic but i believe in being accountable for emails & sms that i sent out.

i was once an unsuspecting 'kind' soul hoo passes on such msgs tinking i'm doing a good deed. unfortunately or fortunately ( depending on how u see it ), one day i responded to the handphone no. listed in such "appealing for help" emails with an offer to help.

i was shocked when the ger hoo answered my call told mi tat the email was a hoax & someone was playing a prank on her. what kind of perserve people wif twisted minds would send such msgs tat plays on ppl's sympathy?? i can onli say the person who came up wif tis prank is sick & pathetic

as it was an email tat was forwarded a couple of times before arriving in my inbox, i replied to the entire email chain informing them of the hoax. but the first person in the email chain claimed to be a victim too.

my next question to myself was
"were we juz victims or unknowing accomplices by helping to spread the msg??"

thus i do not forward such msgs unless i haf verified the emails or my frens are endorsing the contents of the msg or the original sender. but none of my frens haf ever told mi tat they haf verified the contents of the msg. being a kind soul doesn't mean u should b passing on msgs tat may not be true without taking any responsibility