Hotmail 'My Account Is Active' Hoax
Netlore Archive: The 'Hotmail Overload' chain letter returns - in technicolor - for 2003.
Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: Oct. 2001
Status: False
Example:
Email contributed by Laila Lindberg, Oct. 2, 2001:
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Analysis: False, false, false! The fact that this latest variant of 1999's "Hotmail Overload" hoax happens to be circulating in blazing technicolor does not make it any more authentic than previous versions.
Why would Hotmail require you to forward a message to 15 other people within one day to confirm that your account is active? Why would they take this, of all approaches, if their mail servers were already overloaded? Why aren't any of the many links in the message clickable? (Hint: Since when are entire newsletters sent out as single JPEG images?)
Think before you forward. It's the surest way to avoid being duped.
Further reading:
Hotmail Overload
Versions of the hoax circulating since October 1999Microsoft Hotmail Users Receive Hoax Email Threat
NY Daily News, 1 July 2000
