BreakTheChain.org
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Do You Smell Something Funny?Date Added: Apr. 7, 2002
When the entire nation is at arms fearing a terrorist biological attack, unimaginative and improbable warnings like this one often accrue undue credibility. I do not know if this is true or not, but thought that it was worth passing on. Seven women have died after smelling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc... throw it away. The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to alarm us of any danger. Send this to all your friends and family members. Stay well!!!!! A newer version of this chain includes a very passionate plea for you to share this information with others. Some versions also appear to be coming from a representative of a county attorney. Subject: PLEASE READ .. VERY IMPORTANT Because I consider you all to be like family to me and I believe in keeping my Family's best interest in heart, what better way to prove it than by sending you this very IMPORTANT!!!!!! email. I beg of you to take a moment and PLEASE! PLEASE! read this message for you just might prevent someone you love or possibly someone you have never met from making a very big mistake that seems so innocent. So after reading this email, please Forward this email to everybody you LOVE!!! Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc. throw them away . The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas. Send this to all your friends and family members. Franchell Plummer
>Mr. Stafford's office is not the source of this letter. Most likely, Ms. Franchell received it and forwarded it to others, inadvertently adding her credibility and that of her employer to it. As further evidence of the dangers of false attribution, Dennis O'Shea, director of public affairs for Johns Hopkins University contacted BreakTheChain.org for help breaking versions of this chain that claim the warning came from JHU. "This message was not issued by my office nor has my office in any way authorized it or any message like it." You can imagine the headaches caused by hundreds of people calling your office to confirm something you didn't send in the first place. The notion that the government "will not announce it on the news because they do not want to alarm us of any danger" is ridiculous. The media does not usually wait for the government to announce something before they air it. Seven mysterious deaths would definitely have made the news. Besides, since September 11, the government has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to sharing any credible threat (no matter how vague) with the public. If the government is suppressing this information, how did the author get it? Who is the author? Why is he or she an authority on this topic? If the county attorney's office were the source, why is he sharing information the feds are trying to suppress? When and where were these deaths? How can so much be known, yet nobody is talking? This hoax is modeled on earlier warnings about poisonous perfume and death by mail, with a little terrorist paranoia thrown in to make it topical. It has no truth to it and forwarding it, even with the best of intentions, only spreads misinformation and ignorance. As the second version of the chain points out, it may give the wrong people an idea. Break this Chain! References: None |