How not to fall prey to fake articles

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by: Wim Conradie
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Word Count: 406

IMPORTANT: IF YOU SUSPECT ANY STATEMENT TO BE QUESTIONABLE YOU MUST READ THIS

I regularly receive untrue emails from friends. The sad thing is it usually comes from good people who do not really know what they are sending.

Popular examples of this untrue information:

- Beta testing software: Bill Gates shares fortune with Microsoft users
- 'A virtual card for you': Another hoax virus warning: "It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title 'A Virtual Card for You...'"
- Nigerian money scam

Step 1: Decide if it's questionable

For example if it says Microsoft is giving thousands away for forwarding an email - red lights should go on. Not all fake articles are so obvious, but if the article makes any strange claim you should check it out.

Step 2: Google it

The internet is the biggest source of information that exists. Google is the way to access it. There are hundreds of websites that keep track of all these untrue articles and Google knows them all. The easiest way to check if something is valid is simply to copy a line that makes the article unique and give it to Google. Google will give you plenty of websites that will tell you whether the article is true or not. The nice thing about Google is that the website with the most authority tends to be listed first in the search results.

If you do not know how to use Google, it is strongly recommended that you ask somebody to quickly show you how. It will save you tons of time in the future.

Step 3: Reply to the person who send it

If you find a website that confirms that the information is incorrect, reply to the person who sent it to you with the following:
1. Something like "Dear John, I'm not sure if you were aware of what you sent me, but I think you should check out this/these websites"
2. A web address (also known as URL) of the website
3. A copy of this document you are staring at (so that we can stop the lies from spreading)
If the person sent it to a lot of people, click on the "Reply to all" button on your email program to also tell the other people in order to increase the chances to stop it from spreading.

About the Author

Wim Conradie is a majority shareholder in Matogen Corporate Web Development (www.matogen.com). He studied electronic engineering, computer sciences & industrial engineering at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and started first web development business in November 2003. He has a 'passion for business and adding value to other busnesses'.

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