12/23/98 - Is There a Virus Under Your Tree.exe?
New email alerts warn that a popular Christmas download is infected with a dangerous virus.

12/16/98 - Hilfiger 'Racist' Rumor Is Fashionable Again
Apparently, some of you sinners would rather bear false witness than check the facts for yourselves!

12/09/98 - Upstaged by Clapton
A booing audience member invited to take the stage and 'See if you can do better' by Grand Funk Railroad turns out to be Eric Clapton.

12/02/98 - Black Voting Rights to Expire in 2007?
A not-so-new Internet hoax makes the national news.

11/25/98 - Taco Bell or Taco Hell?
Six variations on a fast food horror story.

11/18/98 - Asbestos in Tampons?
Two versions of an email warning about health hazards associated with tampons are currently circulating, one more true than the other.

11/04/98 - Dirty Needles and Pay Phones
Hot scarelore of the moment: drug addicts are endangering the lives of everyone by disposing of contaminated needles in pay phone coin return slots!

10/28/98 - Halloween Campus Massacre '98
Terrifying rumors come back to haunt midwestern college campuses.

10/21/98 - Return of the 'Blue Star' LSD Tattoo
These bogus warnings are as old as the hills, but there's always a fresh audience to buy them.

10/14/98 - Cream, Sugar and a Gas Mask
STILL more reader mail: on the ethics of email petitions and the proper enjoyment of rarest coffee in existence.

10/07/98 - More AIDS/HIV 'Sneak Attacks'
A brand-new variant of last May's "Welcome to the World of AIDS."

09/30/98 - 'Two hooks down' for Urban Legend
I dozed off during this movie – that's the kind of film critic I am.

09/21/98 - Cocaine Smuggled in Baby's Corpse!
An old urban legend dressed up in new clothes for the Internet.

09/14/98 - Altoids, Oral Sex and the Presidency
The Starr report shows Clinton once again waffling on critical issues.

09/09/98 - What is sodium laureth sulfate...
and why are they saying those awful things about it? "Shampoo cancer warning" circulates by email.

08/26/98 - Notes from the Field
Urban legends go to the movies, free stock from Travelzoo.com, and a recycled AOL rumor.

08/12/98 - Further Adventures in Email Tracking
These Net hoaxers seem to think we'll believe anything. (Unfortunately, they're right.)

08/05/98 - Does the Church of Satan Really Exist?
A reader writes: "There is no Church of Satan per se for anyone to give funds to. The closest thing is a small group started 25 years ago in San Francisco by Anton LaVey which was actually organized and had that official title."

08/05/98 - Survival of the Silliest
Yet more reader mail: "How valid are these so-called 'Darwin Award winners' I read about in my email?"

07/29/98 - Another Close Call at the Mall
Not again! A good samaritan's briefcase turns out to be packed with murder weapons...

07/15/98 - 'Bud Frogs' - Screen Saver or Virus?
Newly tweaked to deceive you, this one-year-old virus hoax is still going strong.

07/08/98 - Sunscreen Warning Doesn't Hold Water
"Truth in labeling" we already have; how about "truth in emailing?"

07/03/98 - More on the Webern-Nazi Hoax
Composer Chris Hertzog offers a few more reasons to disbelieve...

06/29/98 - Webern's Dodecaphonic Conspiracy
Shocking (and untrue) revelations about an influential 20th century composer!

06/17/98 - Have a Nice Millennium!
Reader mail: will the real Antichrist please stand up? Plus, a new AOL hoax.

06/10/98 - Trademark^® of the Beast
Rumors have circulated for 20 years that Procter & Gamble is run by minions of Satan. Who believes these rumors, and why?

05/27/98 - The Case of the Pointless Petition
Ever wonder, after you signed that email petition to save PBS/NPR and sent it off to all your friends, where it ended up?

05/21/98 - 'Welcome to the world of AIDS'
Latest Internet scare story – random victims in crowded theaters and night clubs around the world discover they've been injected with HIV.

05/06/98 - Veterans' Dividend Hoax Surfaces Again... and Again
This one's been dogging U.S. veterans for more than 30 years, and now it's found its way onto the Internet.

04/29/98 - Prelude to a Riot?
Latest AOL hoax – so-called 'elite hacker group' threatens members with viruses, account termination, and an online 'riot' scheduled for June 1... or May 1... they couldn't seem to make up their minds.

04/15/98 - Of Slim Jims, Organ Reapers, and the KKK
Reader mail: questions, answers, and stern upbraidings.

04/08/98 - Seinfeld's Finale: the 'Internet Scripts'
Final episode rumors – will the entire cast die horribly, or are they all just moving to L.A.?  Is there a difference?

03/25/98 - Nike Says: 'No Free Shoes!'
Nike Inc. reports receiving up to 100 boxes per day of tattered, smelly, old sneakers in response to a bogus Internet chain letter.

03/18/98 - Attack of the 'Blinking Buddy Chat Invites'
How can they steal my AOL password when I don't even know what they are?!

03/07/98 - A Hoax by Any Other Name
The "Win a Holiday" virus alert, now taking up server space near you.

02/25/98 - Nike Email Tracing Contest
Nike Inc. gets roped into the latest mutation of the Bill Gates hoax and wants out.

02/18/98 - The 90# Telephone Scam
Patrick Crispen of The Internet TourBus digs up the facts on a dubious scam warning.

02/11/98 - 'Hello, my name is Timothy Flyte...'
Another bogus plea for email salvation, this time from a "dying child" who only exists in some hoaxer's imagination.

01/28/98 - AOL Unlimited Access Petition
Is AOL planning on eliminating its flat-rate unlimited access policy? That's what the author of this chain letter would have you believe.

01/21/98 - Spleen Venting
More reader mail: the truth about Marilyn Manson, fear of Bill Gates, and the merits of lard as a hairdressing.

01/07/98 - Hoax Advisory: FCC and Internet Access Charges
Despite what the chain letter says, the FCC is not currently considering per-minute charges for Internet access. Get the facts here.

More Features...