Amy Bruce hoax
From WikiAlpha
Revision as of 15:57, 12 June 2013 by Geo Swan (Talk | contribs) (moved Amy Bruce to Amy Bruce hoax: redirect)
The Amy Bruce hoax was a popular chain letter, circulated by hoaxsters, to play on the sympathy of credulous readers, and get them to respond, so as to build a sucker list.[1][2] The letter was first observed, in the wild, in 1997.
According to Theresa Heyn, author of Email Hoaxes: Form, Function, Genre Ecology, the Amy Bruce hoax letter had the three classic elements scholars recognize in a sympathy hoax letter: the "hook", the "threat", and the "request".[1] She characterized it as the second most widely distributed variant of the Jessica Mydek hoax letter.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Theresa Heyd (2008). Email Hoaxes: Form, Function, Genre Ecology. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 34, 40, 62, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 93, 95, 96, 179,. ISBN 9789027254184. http://books.google.ca/books?id=jUTkPqhvd-wC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=%22Jessica+mydek%22+hoax&source=bl&ots=7onFnvWR_T&sig=o26cZH2sKnHYmq-jZXlMSndHwhs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7ZG2UaHYEompqgHHjoG4Ag&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cancer&f=false. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
- ↑ Anne P. Mintz (2002). "Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet". Information Today. p. 98. ISBN 9780910965606. http://books.google.ca/books?id=uS3p9iDooc8C&pg=PA98&dq=%22Jessica+mydek%22+hoax&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2nS4UdLTOeiZyAHkkoCADA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Jessica%20mydek%22%20hoax&f=false. Retrieved 2013-06-12. "They report that "one frequent message says the American Red Cross will donate three cents to cancer research as part of 7-year-old cancer patient Jessica Mydek's dying wish. Another says the Make-A-Wish Foundation will pay seven cents towards the hospital bills of 7-year-old Amy Bruce, who it says is suffering from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke and a large brain tumor caused by repeated beatings. Another making the rounds says BCC Software will donate five cents to help with 7-year-old Kalin Relek's operations for internal bleeding after he was struck by a car. But it seems none of these 7-year-olds exists.""
