Automobiles

Forwarded email claims a customer buying gasoline at a Bloomington, Minnesota gas station was charged an extra $10 for paying at the pump with a bank card.

A fiendish killer disguised as a mild-mannered, well-dressed businessman helps a damsel in distress, then demands that she give him a ride...

Two more well-known urban legends show up in an email warning.

Forwarded email claims that car interiors contain toxic levels of cancer-causing benzene, which is used in the manufacture of dashboards, car seats, and air fresheners. It advises opening windows to expel trapped benzene before using the air conditioner or driving.

POP goes the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

Locked out of your automobile? According to this forwarded email, you can have someone transmit a signal from your spare remote key via cell phone and unlock your car door in a pinch.

Forwarded email warns that MS-13 gang members are participating in a 'gang initiation rite' wherein they bump a car from behind and then shoot the driver when he or she exits the vehicle to check for damage.

Email flier warns automobile owners to cover the VIN # on their dashboard with tape to prevent car thieves from writing it down and using it to obtain duplicate keys from a dealership.

This little rumor has never been substantiated, but gasoline vendors around the world seem to be taking it very, very seriously.

Email rumor claims a consumer was cheated by a rigged gas pump while refueling at a BP service station in Cartersville, Georgia

Did Latin American car buyers shun the Chevy Nova because "no va" means "doesn't go" in Spanish?  About Guide Gerald Erichsen says nope, that's just an urban legend.

Email rumor claims structural engineers have declared the I-90 Innerbelt Bridge in Cleveland on the verge of collapse and recommends detouring around it.

TRUE: Using cruise control when driving at high speeds on wet pavement can cause a car to hydroplane and might result in a deadly accident.

A cautionary tale about the evils of necking on Lovers' Lane.

A female student driving home from college foils a phony cop's attempt to pull her over by dialing #77 on her cell phone to contact the real police officer ahead of her.

Forwarded email warns users not to accept the privacy and security agreement at Cars.gov, the website of the federal 'Cash for Clunkers' program, because it supposedly grants the government full ownership of and access to users' computers and all the files and information they contain.

A man hitchhiking on a dark and stormy night jumps in a stopped car, then realizes there's nobody in the driver's seat. Imagine his surprise when the vehicle starts moving and a disembodied arm reaches in through the window to steer!

Another skirmish in the age-old battle between professors and class-cutting students.

Email rumor claims the state of New York is using the EZ Pass electronic toll collecting system to gauge drivers' speed between toll booths and issue automatic speeding tickets to violators.

Has this alleged "gang initiation rite" cost the lives of innocent people around the U.S.?

Scam email purporting to come from Ford Motor Company offers an opportunity to purchase a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid vehicle at half price ($15,500).

Car thieves get way more than they bargained for.

My, Grandma, what a big machete you have!

More needle-stick incidents, this time centered in Jacksonville, Florida.

A teenager drove his date to Lovers' Lane for a make-out session before it was time to take her home. The place was very dark and deserted...

The accompanying story is suspect, but emailed photos of a woman being smuggled into the U.S. crammed inside the dashboard of a vehicle are authentic.

Sorry to be a-followin' ya that way, ma'am, but did you know there's a demented serial killer a-sittin' right behind ya?

More murdering madmen in disguise in this variant of "The Hatchet in the Handbag."

TRUE: Emailed pictures show the denouement of a pickup truck accident in which the truck apparently crashed through a barricade, struck a culvert, flipped end over end, and landed upright mere inches from the edge of a deep ravine.

This "warning to women" claims that elaborate scams are being used by abductors to lure female shoppers out of malls and into waiting vans.

Forwarded email warns drivers of a new "move over law" which took effect in California as of January 1, 2010.

Emailed images purportedly show a space-age automated parking garage constructed in a circular tower in Munich, Germany.

Email hoax claims Michigan State Police are conducting a 31-day "speeding ticket frenzy" during which troopers will pose as DOT workers to enable them to catch traffic violators unawares. The scheme is called "Operation Yellow Jacket."

"Legislative brief" circulating via forwarded email claims the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bill on September 11, 2007 banning cell phone use in moving vehicles.

Forwarded email advises service station customers to press the 'clear' button after using a debit or credit card at the gas pump so subsequent users won't be able to 'piggyback' charges on their accounts.

Forwarded email warns that Georgia state troopers are about to launch a 'speeding ticket frenzy' in and around Atlanta, Georgia during which citations will be issued at the rate of one every 10 to 20 minutes to increase state revenues.

Teenagers across America, we're told, are tossing firebombs into randomly selected vehicles.

While a few of the claims in this email are erroneous, it is true that the Petroleum Equipment Institute has issued a consumer warning about the danger of static-caused fires at service stations.

Email rumor warns of a new carjacking scheme involving the placement of a sticker or flyer on the victim's rear window to fool them into exiting the vehicle with the engine running.

Forwarded email warns that criminals are stealing license plates and mounting them on their own vehicles to avoid being caught while perpetrating 'pump and run' gasoline thefts

Internet urban legend warns of a criminal ploy to disable women's vehicles in Target Store parking lots by pouring sugar water in their gas tanks

Forwarded email urges vehicle owners to lock their doors manually instead of using a remote key, otherwise thieves might be able to clone the security code and gain entry to the vehicle.

Netlore Archive: Email flier purports to convey a petroleum industry insider's tips for saving money at the gas pump

A photo vignette circulating via email shows a tow truck tumbling into the sea while attempting to salvage another tow truck that met the same fate while salvaging a wrecked car.

Emailed images of purported examples of trompe l'oeil advertising on the side panels of truck trailers.

Zipless variant of "The Unzipped Mechanic," a very old legend in which a woman mistakes a mechanic working under the family car for her husband and proceeds to give the man the surprise of his life.

A classic, internationally-known ghost story dating back centuries and the inspiration for the book of the same title by Jan Harold Brunvand.

Email rumors claim using a cell phone at a gas station can ignite gasoline vapors and cause a fire and/or explosion.