Jessica Mydek hoax letter
The Jessica Mydek 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] The letter was first observed, in the wild, in 1997.[2]
According to Theresa Heyn, author of Email Hoaxes: Form, Function, Genre Ecology, the Mydek hoax letter had the three classic elements scholars recognize in a sympathy hoax letter: the "hook", the "threat", and the "request".[1]
The letter represented itself as a letter from a 7-year-old girl with terminal brain cancer. She requested the email be forwarded to the receipients' email contacts, with a carbon copy to an email address the letter represented as that of the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society denied involvement in the campaign and determined there was no such child.[3][4]
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.
- ↑ Ivar Peterson (1997-07-14). "Chain E-Mail: Heart-Rending Pleas Are Sometimes Counterfeit". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/14/business/chain-e-mail-heart-rending-pleas-are-sometimes-counterfeit.html. Retrieved 2010-08-27. "It seemed like such a heartfelt appeal: Jessica Mydek, only 7 years old and dying of cancer, sending out an electronic-mail message urging readers to live their lives more fully and, by the way, to pass her letter on to as many other E-mail recipients as possible, so that the American Cancer Society and several corporate sponsors would each contribute 3 cents toward cancer research for every message forwarded." mirror
- ↑ "Caught up in chain mail". The Guardian. 2001-02-01. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2001/feb/15/voluntarysector1. Retrieved 2010-08-27. mirror
- ↑ "Jessica Mydek or Jean Ann Linney Cancer Email Hoax". Consumer fraud reporting. http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/emailhoaxesjessica.php. Retrieved 2010-08-27. mirror
