Hoax Messages

Hoax Messages On WhatsApp And Emails

I got this WhatsApp message from one of my cousins as well as an email from a friend with contents almost similar.

Email /WhatsApp msg:

One of the most common email hoaxes showing up in email inboxes & WhatsApp msg , is this one, which reprints a poem supposedly written by a terminally ill young girl in New York, and claiming the American Cancer Society will make a donation to her treatment and recovery plan for each name the email is forwarded to.

Here is one version of the email / WhatsApp msg:

Slow Dance 

It is so easy to lose sight of what is important.

This came this morning as a little reminder.

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital. It was sent by a medical doctor. Make sure to read what is in the closing statement AFTER THE POEM.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Do you run through each day
on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste,
not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
to call and say "Hi"?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over. 

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO HELP THIS LITTLE GIRL. ALL FORWARDED E-MAILS 

ARE TRACKED TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL COUNT.

Dear All:

PLEASE pass this mail on to everybody you know.

It is the request of a special little girl who will soon leave this world as she has cancer.

 Please send this to everyone you know or don't know. This little girl has 6 months left to 

live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to live their life to

 the fullest, since she never will. She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, 

or get married and have a family of her own. By you sending this to as many people as 

possible, you can give her and her family a little hope, because with every name that this

 is sent to, The American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment 

and recovery plan. One guy sent this to 500 people! So I know that we can send it to at 

least 5 or 6. Just think it could be you one day. It's not even your money, just your time!

PLEASE PASS ON AS A LAST REQUEST

Fact:

1] The email is thought to be a revised version of an email that has been around in some form or another since at least 1997. The American Cancer Society is in no way involved in this effort, and never lends its name to chain emails. We certainly do understand the good intentions of those who respond to the email, and hope people who do want to help will find legitimate ways to assist the millions of cancer patients who rely on reputable organizations to improve the daily lives of cancer survivors, and reduce the suffering caused by cancer.

2] This is what we are informed by WhatsApp ( I quote the same in its entirety):

Privacy & Security is in our DNA. From day one, we built WhatsApp to help you stay in with friends, share vital information during a natural disaster, reconnect with separated families, or seek a better life. Some of your most personal moments are shared with WhatsApp, which is why we built end-to-end encryption into the latest versions of our app., when your messages, photos,videos, voice messages, documents and calls are secured from falling into the wrong hands. This enables only you and the person you’re communicating with, to read what is sent and nobody else in between,not even WhatsApp.This is because your messages are secured with a lock, and only recipient and you have the special key needed to unlock and read them.

 Hence for this very reason, I posted  my : 'उचलली बोटें अन् केले फॉरवर्डस आणि पोस्टस!' in Marathi wherein I have written how people impatiently and eagerly (उतावळेपणाने) forward / copy-paste the posts they receive.  So do not be rash and impetuous to forward or copy- paste all messages you receive onWhatsApp or through emails, without verifying the facts.   

                                                        Vinay Trilokekar