[Equal] Achtung HOAX

[Hilgarth & Weber]

Liebe Equals

Mit dem Mail vom 4.7. wurde Ihnen die Nachricht über "Achtung vor
Betrügeren" zugestellt. Dies ist ein HOAX. Diese Mails sind einzig und
allein dazu da, das Netz zu sabotieren. Also bitte nicht weiterverbreiten!!!

Hier zu Ihrer Information ein Link, der Ihnen Aufschluss über den HOAX gibt
oder Sie prüfen können, ob das erhaltene Mail dazu gehört oder nicht.

http://www.tu-berlin.de/www/software/hoaxlist.shtml#p
siehe: Parfüm - Ueberfälle auf Parkplätzen



Und ein Artikel über die Parfüm-Serie:


The Knockout Perfume
Dateline: 05/24/00

By David Emery

One of the more alarming urban legends circulating by email just now holds
that bands of thieves across the U.S. are using ether-spiked perfume samples
to render victims unconscious before making off with their valuables. This
is likely false. At any rate, there's a dearth of confirmed incidents to
substantiate the scare stories, with the sole exception of the strange case
of Bertha Johnson of Mobile, Alabama, who told police last November that she
was robbed of $800 after sniffing a sample of cologne offered her by a
stranger and passing out in her car. Toxicological tests revealed no unusual
substances in the victim's blood, but at last report the case remains open
in spite of the fact that police apparently have no evidence or leads to
follow.

Though the details have metamorphosed over time, the legend showing up in
inboxes today is directly descended from rumors based on early news reports
about that very incident. The kernel of the story remains the same, but
instead of cologne, the knock-out product is now perfume. Instead of an
unknown, undetectable substance, the soporific agent is ether. Most
interesting of all, the moral of the story is no longer simply, "Beware of
parking lot scammers." It has also become, "If not for these email warnings,
I might have been a victim too."

It's typical of rumors and urban legends to undergo changes as they pass
from person to person, though admittedly - as folklorists are wont to
complain - texts forwarded by email tend to vary less than orally
transmitted stories. Variants crop up for a couple of reasons. For one,
people tend to misremember and/or misreport the information they've heard
(as anyone knows who's played the children's game called "Telephone"). For
another, it's in the nature of storytelling and storytellers to "creatively
enhance" certain details of a yarn (i.e., lie) to make it more scary, more
funny or more believable, depending on the desired effect. The results of
these processes can be seen in the evolution of "The Knock-Out Perfume."

Two Sniffs and You're Out
On November 8, 1999 the Mobile, Alabama police department issued a press
release stating:
On Monday, November 8, 1999, at approximately 2:30 p.m. Officers from the
Third Precinct responded to the World of Wicker, at 3055 Dauphin Street.
When the Officers arrived the victim, 54-year-old Bertha Johnson of the 2400
block of St. Stephens Road, advised she was rendered unconscious after
smelling an unknown substance. Johnson was approached by an unknown black
female, who was described as follows: slim build, 120-130 pounds, 5 feet 7
inches tall and was last seen wearing a Leopard print wrap on her head and
large gold loop earrings. The victim told Investigators the incident
occurred at the Amsouth Bank at 2326 Saint Stephens Road. After the
victim-regained consciousness she discovered her property missing from her
purse and her vehicle. The MOBILE POLICE DEPARTMENT is advising the public
to be on alert for this type of activity.
The local media jumped on the story. A Nov. 10, 1999 article in the Mobile
Register quoted Johnson as saying her assailant offered her a $45 bottle of
cologne for $8 and asked her to sniff a sample. She sniffed it once,
detected nothing odd, then sniffed it again and lost consciousness. The next
thing she knew, she was standing in another parking lot miles away, woozy
and minus $800 in cash.
"I feel like I got flimflammed out of something that I should have known
better than to even look out the window at her," Johnson told the Register.

Within days, the story of her parking lot misadventure was all over the
Internet.




Mit freundlichen Grüssen


Tina Weber Hilgarth
Equal Listadministratorin SCG