Free Computers!
Don't be tempted to believe this. It's a hoax – just one entry in the repetitive annals of "email tracking"...
Email text contributed by Steph Benton, 07/01/99:
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Subject: Free Computer Equipment!!!
Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know about this great new PC I just got from IBM! Hewlett-Packard and Gateway have just merged to form the biggest computer supplier in the world! Bigger than Dell, bigger than IBM, bigger than them all! In response to this amazing merger, IBM has set aside 250,000 free computers to reward and keep it's most loyal and trusted customers! I've already got mine, read on to see how you can get yours!!! This email has a special encoding which will let IBM know every time you send it to one of your friends or relatives. The first 250,000 people who send this to at least 15 of their friends will receive a brand new IBM computer! After you send this to your friends, and qualify, IBM will contact you via email, and get your shipping address. Send them your address, and in a couple of days, a brand new computer, complete with printer, and 19" monitor is sitting on your doorstep! You must hurry, because this offer ends July 31 of this year! Here's the catch, though. Each of your friends must send this to at least 5 people or you won't be eligible, so choose your friends wisely! Remember, a true friend will send this along for you! That's all it takes, no strings attached! No purchase necessary!!! You don't even have to have previously purchased a computer from IBM! They want to earn or keep your future business, and they're willing to pay for it!!! Take Care, and let's get some new computers!!! |
Comments: Welcome to the hoax-of-the-month club. Last month, it was free clothing from The Gap. The month before that, we were told we could win free cash from Microsoft. Now IBM is supposedly giving away a hundred million dollars worth of computers – to people who forward chain letters, of all things!
All of these pranks follow the same formula: Company X has merged with company Y to create an unbeatable market force; therefore, company Z is fighting back by giving away cash or merchandise to everyone who re-sends the chain letter per instructions.
Folks, reputable companies do not do business like this. No one – not even IBM – can keep track of who forwards an email and who does not. No matter how many friends you send this message to, you will not get a free computer.
What you'll probably get instead are nasty messages back from friends who are tired of receiving junk mail – something to think about before you forward the next one that comes along.
I do hope someone will inform Hewlett-Packard and Gateway that they have merged. Judging from the press releases of both companies over the past few months, that little detail appears to have escaped their notice.
Further reading:
- Statement from IBM
Straight from the horse's mouth: "The offer of a free PC is a hoax." - Varieties of Netlore: Chain Email
Chain letters haven't changed much over the past 100 years, but since the advent of email they're easier than ever to replicate.
