OT: 90# hoax

[Corun MacAnndra <corun@access.digex.net>]

Poster: Corun MacAnndra <corun@access.digex.net>

Greetings to the Merry Pranksters from Corun.

This is off topic, but it won't be the first time.

You're about to be flooded with email about a telephone scam being run
that allows people to use your phone for long distance calls by calling
you, purporting to be your local phone co. and asking you to hit 90#.

        ** THIS IS A HOAX **

...sorta. It only works on phones from which you have to dial 9 to get
an outside line and then it will still depend on how your phone is set
up. Since none of you have this in your homes you're safe.

This is the latest in internet urban legends, and since I'm usually one
of those here to rain on people's parades by pointing out the dire warnings
that occasionally, but with all good intentions, get sent here are hoaxes,
I thought it best that I warn you ahead of time this time. This one is
fairly new and I only heard about it today. Nothing like being a little
proactive.

Btw, if anyone is really interested, the next time you get some kind of
Chicken Little warning that someone is going to steal your kidneys next
time you go to a party, or a request to send your business cards to some
dying kid, you can always do a net search on the string "urban legends"
in your favourite search engine (I use Altavista myself). This will lead
you to any number of urban legend sites that will have timely and accurate
info. The particular url I got this info from is;

        http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa121097.htm

This looks like a good site for this sort of thing. The dateline of the
posting is 2/18/98. I'm warning you now because you can expect to see
this one flooding your emalilboxes.

In service,
Corun

===============================================================================
   Corun MacAnndra   |  For a successful technology, reality must take 
 Dark Horde by birth |   precedence over public relations, for nature
   Moritu by choice  |     cannot be fooled.  --  R. P. Feynman
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