SNOPES REPORT

Hello again from snopes, where we shed light on the wild tales you've heard! This e-mail gives information about new articles recently added to the snopes.com

web site and provides pointers to older pieces about rumors and hoaxes still wandering into everyone's inboxes.

Our last update mailing was 26 December 2009.

If after this update you are left wondering about something newly arrived in your inbox, our search engine

stands ready to assist you. Bookmark that URL — it's a keeper!

And now to the legends, the mayhem, and the misinformation!

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New Articles

• Does Facebook plan to begin charging
  users $4.99 a month in June 2010?
• E-mailed account purportedly tells the real story of Tiger Woods'
  auto accident.
• Ubiquitous press prankster
  returns for the holiday season to bedevil newspaper editors.
• Letter chides
  California senator Barbara Boxer for asking a general to address her as "Senator."
• Clever thief finds an inventive way to steal
  right under a guard's nose.
• Is men's underwear
  referred to as 'BVDs' because the term is an abbreviation of the phrase 'Boy's Ventilated Drawers'?
• Texted exhortation claims the phone company will donate
  $2 for a baby girl's heart transplant every time the message is forwarded.
• Don't forget to visit our Daily Snopes
  page for a collection of odd news stories from around the world!

Worth a Second Look

• New Year's: Some common beliefs and superstitions about bringing in the New Year
  .

Still Haunting the Inbox

• Some rumors about snopes.com
  were debunked
  at FactCheck.org.
• Account describes a purported "dry run" by Muslim terrorists
  on an AirTran flight.
• Postcard / Greeting Card virus
  .
• E-mailed computer virus
  masquerades as parcel company's delivery failure notification.
• Letter purportedly written by nonagenarian Navy veteran
  criticizes President Obama.
• Let's Say Thanks: Xerox-sponsored web site allows the public to send free postcards
  to U.S. troops.
• Warning about cash back charges
  being surreptitiously placed on WalMart customers' credit cards.
• Message promises consumers can receive free laptop
  computers from Ericsson for forwarding an e-mail to their friends.
• E-mail advises contacting police
  by calling #77 (or *677) on a cell phone.
• E-warning cautions that cell phone
  numbers are being sold to telemarketers.
• A Thanksgiving advertising circular issued by Best Buy
  wishes readers a "Happy Eid al-Adha."
• Claim that "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was created as a coded
  reference to important articles of the Christian faith.
• Message from Vietnam vet claims Target
  stores do not support veterans.
• Claim that a federal judge has ordered Barack Obama to prove
  his eligibility for the presidency in court.
• Claim that Rep. Nancy Pelosi regularly travels
  to California on a 200-seat jet.
• Warning about 'Osama Captured/Hanged' computer virus
  .
• Actor/writer Ben Stein's
  commentary on the observance of Christmas.
• Warning that robbers are flinging eggs
  at cars to impair drivers' vision and force them to stop.
• Photographs purportedly show a coyote
  that survived an eight-hour trip wedged behind a car bumper.
• U.S. postage stamp commemorates Islamic
  holidays.
• Warning about criminals' using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate
  their victims.
• Mail Server Report
  virus.
• Warnings about scammers' luring phone users into returning calls to numbers within the 809
  area code.
• List details changes
  made to the Social Security program over the years.
• Prayer request for Cindy Hogman, a wife and mother battling
  cervical cancer.
• Warning about thieves
  armed with "code grabbers" breaking into cars by recording signals sent from remote keyless entry devices.

Fraud Afoot

• Seems like everyone has become the recipient of mysterious e-mails promising untold wealth if only one helps a wealthy foreigner quietly move millions of dollars out of his country. The venerable 419 Scam
  has discovered the goldmine that is the Internet. Beware: There's still no such thing as "something for nothing," and the contents of your bank account will end up with these wily foreigners if you fall in with this.
• Likewise, look out for mailings announcing you've won a foreign lottery
  you don't recall entering or claiming that because you share the surname of a wealthy person who died without leaving a will you're in line for a windfall inheritance
  .
• And be especially wary if, while trying to sell or rent anything online (car, boat, horse, motorcycle, painting, apartment, you name it) you're approached by a prospective buyer/renter who wants to pay with a cashier check made out for an amount in excess
  of the agreed-upon price and who asks the balance be sent to a third party.
• Aspiring work-at-homers
  promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties or reship goods to them have been defrauded by con artists. Don't you be next.

Admin Stuff

• View the latest edition
  of the snopes.com
  newsletter online.
• Please note that the e-mail address update@snopes.com is an administrative address used only for mailing weekly updates to subscribers. All mail sent to this address is automatically deleted.
• If you wish to change your subscription information or unsubscribe, please use the links provided at the bottom of every newsletter mailing.
• If you wish to find information on a particular topic, please use the search engine
  .
• Our What's New
  page and our 25 Hottest Urban Legends
  page are also handy places to check whenever you receive something questionable in your inbox.
• Other inquiries and comments may be submitted through the "Contact Us" form at snopes.com
  .