MySpace hoax reaches Australia
Missing girl hoax spreads:
A recent MySpace hoax has gone global…
A hoax email purporting to have information about a missing US teen has arrived in Australia after months of clogging email inboxes in the US.
The email, sent on May 10 from the now defunct address HelpfindAshleyFlores@yahoo.com, claims it is from the mother of 13-year-old Ashley Flores, and says Ashley has been missing for two weeks.
The email states: “I am asking you all, begging you to please forward this email on to anyone and everyone you know, PLEASE.
” … It is still not too late. Please help us … it only takes 2 seconds to forward this. If it was your child you would want all the help you could get.”
The email also includes a large photo of “Ashley”.
The email is in fact a hoax originating from a MySpace.com user in Philadelphia, a 17-year-old girl who calls herself “Vicki”.
When contacted by urbanlegends.com via a MySpace blog, Vicki replied: “ashley flores is not missing it was a merly a joke that got completely out of hand please imform everyone that e-mail that she is NOT missing it was a joke im sorry about any confusion.”
The story became such an issue that the Philadelphia Inquirer even ran an article on the hoax.
But despite the originator’s attempt to defuse the prank, the email has spread across the internet and seems to be now arriving in Australia.
More information on the hoax can be found at BreakTheChain.org, Hoax-Slayer.com and Snopes.com.
Anyone receiving the email is advised to delete it and inform the sender not to forward it to anyone else.
Whenever you receive an e-mail forward about a missing child you should always check Snopes before forwarding it on to other people.
Technorati Tags: Hoax, MySpace, urban legend, Ashley Flores.
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