Keylogger - - A Threat to Your Private Information While Using Public Computers

Beware! Its a Cyber World -- Summary:

Through mail and different social networks; a widely circulated message warns users of public computers to check for a black device that, when plugged into the computer's keyboard by a fraudster, can store all key strokes entered, including passwords.

In fact, such keylogging devices do exist and they certainly can be used to steal personal information from unsuspecting computer users. Computer users should be aware that such devices exist and may be used to steal data. However, the devices are not new technology as suggested in the message and they are not always black. Keyloggers come in all shapes, sizes and colours. There are also software keyloggers that users may inadvertently download from malicious websites. Software keyloggers are probably a more potent security threat than the hardware devices described in the message.

Let's have a look to the contents of the message and related images

=======================================
Beware the black device connected to the keyboard.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU'RE USING A public computer (Like INTERNET CAFES, HOTELS, ETC ).

CHECK THE BACK OF THE PC AND SEE IF THE BELOW DEVICE IS THERE.... IF SO..then DO NOT USE IT!

Additional adapter

New storing device fits at the end of the keyboard cable connecting to the PC specialized to save all typed keys in it.

Mostly could be used in net cafes, exhibitions, hotels and airports therefore be careful especially the people who use the Internet in these places to enter their bank accounts online or any other important sites.

After you enter the bank account and leave the PC it will be easy to open your account again as all that you have typed has been saved in the Black device.

Therefore, you should check the PC for any suspicious piece behind it before using the net in public places for important sites.

Please send it to all who you know to educate them against this fraud.
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Beware! Its a Cyber World -- Explanation:

This warning message, which has circulated in various versions for several years, advises people using public computers such as those in Internet Cafes to watch out for a "black device" that can steal the user's data when connected to the computer's keyboard. The message claims that after the device has been plugged into the keyboard cable and then into the back of the computer, it can then record every keystroke entered into the computer. Thus, claims the message, when the fraudster who placed the device subsequently retrieves it, he or she will be able to harvest any information that the user has entered on the computer, including bank account details and other private information. The message normally includes pictures showing the black device and how it is installed.

Such devices do exist and are generally known as "key loggers". The brand of keylogger shown in the message is a KeyShark Key Logger and is available for sale at many different computer outlets and websites around the world. Product information about the device describes it as follows:

This is a device that can be connected to a keyboard to record all keystrokes. It has a changeable password, keyword search, enable/disable option, and stores over a years worth of data.

Keyshark plugs in between your keyboard and your computer. A microcontroller interprets the data, and stores information in the non-volatile memory (which retains the information even when there is a loss of power.) This means that the Key Shark device can be unplugged, and the information will not be lost.

To access the recorded data, you simply type menu in a text editor and the Key Shark comes to life. A menu is displayed with options to erase data, view data, search data for keywords, change password, or disable the device.

The black Keyshark Key Logger shown in the photographs is in fact only one kind of hardware keylogger. The devices come in all shapes and sizes and are not always black. There are also USB and wifi keyloggers as well as PS/2 devices like the one shown here. And despite the claim in the warning message, the devices are certainly not new. In fact, they have been around in one form or another for a number of years.

It should be noted that the devices themselves are not illegal and can be easily procured. Possible legitimate applications for keyloggers might be the monitoring of children's use of the Internet, permission based monitoring of staff activity or helping software developers learn how test users interact with new software products. Law enforcement agencies may also use the devices when gathering evidence or intelligence. That said, keyloggers can indeed be used for nefarious and illegal purposes.

So, what of the scenario described in the warning message? It is not impossible that criminals might use such tactics and may indeed have done so, especially if they were actively targeting a specific user. However, installing and later retrieving enough of the devices to enable the scammers to collect a meaningful amount of usable data seems a little problematical. The devices are not particularly cheap, so procuring enough of the devices to make such a scam consistently pay off could require a considerable monetary outlay for our would be hacker. Moreover, installing the device involves disconnecting the keyboard, plugging the keylogger into the back of the computer, and then reconnecting the keyboard - not a particular easy procedure to perform in a crowded Internet Cafe. Nevertheless, users of public computers would be wise to keep an eye out for such devices. An unscrupulous Internet Cafe owner or staff member could certainly install the devices unbeknownst to customers

All in all, however, a much more potent keylogging threat to users exists in the form of software keyloggers. Software keyloggers, which can perform the same function as hardware devices such as the Keyshark, are much cheaper and can potentially be installed on a great many more computers. Keylogger software in the form of trojans horses can be installed on thousands or even millions of computers via malware email campaigns that cost the criminal very little to implement. Therefore, it seems probable that serious criminals are considerably more likely to operate software keyloggers than use the more expensive and cumbersome hardware variety.

Muslims Prayer on Madison Avenue on Every Friday - - Reality or Anti-Religiion Hoax

Beware! Its a Cyber World -- Summary:

Through mail and different social networks; a widely circulated protest message claims that, every Friday, many Muslims pray on Madison Avenue and other streets of New York, thereby blocking streets and disrupting traffic. The message includes photographs depicting large groups of Muslims praying.

The images and photographs attached to the said message, though genuine, but the description is inaccurate and misleading. The images depict scenes from the annual Muslim Day Parade in New York City. The parade has taken place every year since 1985. The parade only takes place once per year. Muslims do not block New York streets to pray every Friday as claimed in the message.

Let's have a look to the contents of the message; which is spreading a wrong image about Muslims:

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Subject: This is Madison Ave. in New York City

Political Madness – Will History repeat itself in our lifetime? PLEASE, read to the end – and you can make your own decision on how you feel, and send to all friends and acquaintances. At least they wont be able to say – “I didn’t see it coming”. I didn’t take too much notice of this situation when I first heard about it. But now I am concerned. You should be too. People of all faiths should be concerned – that is why you are receiving this.

Be informed, Be Concerned, Be aware, Don’t let Political Correctness silence you.

From an American who is a retired international lawyer in Madrid.

This is an accurate picture of every Friday afternoon in several locations throughout New York City where there are mosques with a large number of Muslims that cannot fit into the mosque - They fill the surrounding streets, facing east for a couple of hours between about 2 & 4 p.m. - Besides this one at 42nd St & Madison Ave, there is another, even larger group, at 94th St & 3rd Ave, etc.,etc. - Also, I presume, you are aware of the dispute over building another "high rise" Mosque a few blocks from "ground zero" - With regard to that one, the "Imam" refuses to disclose where the $110 million dollars to build it is coming from and there is a lawsuit filed to force disclosure of that information - November can't come soon enough.

This scene is in New York City on Madison Avenue, not in France or the Middle East or Yemen or Kenya.

They are claiming America for Allah. If we don't wake up soon, we are going to "politically correct" ourselves right out of our own country!







A Christian Nation cannot put up a Christmas scene of the baby Jesus in a public place, but the Muslims can stop normal traffic every Friday afternoon by worshiping in the streets.... Something is happening in America that is reminiscent of what is happening in Europe. This is Political Correctness gone crazy...

"For evil to flourish, all that is needed is for good people to do nothing." Edmund Burke
=======================================

Beware! Its a Cyber World -- Explanation:

According to this widely circulated protest message, every Friday afternoon, large numbers of Muslims block streets in various locations in New York City, including Madison Avenue, in order to pray. The message claims that mosques in New York cannot hold all those wishing to worship, so Muslims take over nearby streets each and every Friday afternoon, thereby disrupting normal traffic flow. The message includes several photographs depicting large groups of Muslims praying on Madison Avenue in New York.

The photographs are genuine and do indeed show large numbers of Muslims praying on Madison Avenue. However, the accompanying description is highly misleading and inaccurate. The photographs show scenes from the annual Muslim Day Parade that takes place every September or October in New York City. The key word here is "annual". The mass prayer sessions depicted in the photographs do not take place every Friday in New York as claimed in the message. Muslim worshippers do not block New York streets every Friday afternoon. Claims that such disruptive, street-based prayer sessions occur every week are simply untrue.

The Muslim Day Parade has taken place in New York City since the mid 1980's, in September or October. A history of the Muslim Day Parade published on the parade's official website notes:

New York City is the capital of the world and center of economic, business, social and cultural activities. When it comes to social and cultural activities, it houses many ethnic groups from around the world such as Irish, Italian, Latin, Afro-American, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim. Up until 1985, all these groups were celebrating their ethic and cultural heritage in one form or the other, which included street activities, festivals and parades with the exception of the Muslims.

So, in 1984, few Muslim brothers got together, thought that when there are so many cultural shows and parades are being held in the City then Muslims should also demonstrate their different cultural beauties along with our Islamic values. Muslim representation in the City and State was zero. So they planned about having a United American Muslim Day Parade in New York City which will provide a platform to the Muslim community in this Tri-State are to get together and join the main stream political arena of this country as we have adopted it as our homeland. We are here for good our children have to carry on our Islamic Values in the future when we will be gone.

The parade history states that the first Muslim Day Parade took place in September 1985 and the event has been held every year since.

The first three photographs in the message depict scenes from the 2008 Muslim Day Parade. The same photographs can be viewed in a post about the parade published on the Atlas Shrugs blog in October 2008. The last photograph in the sequence can be seen on the same blog in a post about the 2009 Muslim Day Parade.

The 2010 parade was held on 26 September. An article about the parade published in the New York Times reports:

The scene seemed surreal, yet oddly poignant: at a silent, deserted intersection in the center of Midtown Manhattan, beneath bland corporate logos and brick office buildings, hundreds of Muslims knelt on a sprawling tarpaulin, faced due east and commenced the midday call to prayer.

The ceremony, held along a blocked-off portion of Madison Avenue, marked the start of the American Muslim Day Parade on Sunday, an annual event, first held in 1985, that brings together Muslims of many ethnicities and nationalities who worship in the New York region.

Like the many other official parades that take place each year in New York City, the Muslim Day Parade is properly planned and organized prior to the event and has the necessary authorization and permits from the New York City authorities. And, to reiterate, the parade and the prayer sessions that are part of the event take place only once per year, not every week as claimed in this protest message.

Finally, it should be noted that the supposed Edmund Burke quote included at the end of the message - "For evil to flourish, all that is needed is for good people to do nothing" - may well be misattributed. Edmund Burke was an 18th century Irish political philosopher and politician who is often thought of as the father of modern conservatism. Information about the supposed quote on Wikiquote notes:

This is probably the most quoted statement attributed to Burke, and an extraordinary number of variants of it exist, but all without any definite original source. These very extensively used "quotations" may be based on a paraphrase of some of Burke's ideas, but he is not known to have ever declared them in such a manner in any of his writings. It may have been adapted from these lines of Burke's in his Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents (1770): "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

Burke's alleged quote bears a striking resemblance to the narrated theme of Sergei Bondarchuk's Soviet film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's book "War and Peace", in which the narrator declares "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing", although since the original is in Russian various translations to English are possible.

"Winning Notification" From FREE-LOTTO AFFILIATED OFFICE U.K

As I have shared many juicy emails with my readers; in which I won millions of dollars, Euro and pound sterling, but never received a single penny in my account or hand. Cybercriminals just knocked my door to tell me that I, the luckiest person in the world, have again won $2.0 MILLION US DOLLARS.

This time these cyber cowboys used the name of "FREE-LOTTO AFFILIATED OFFICE U.K ". One thing is just beyond my understanding, as I'm not a internet or computer specialist, how these bad peoples manage to use the domain name of "lotto.co.uk" for sending such malicious mails. If anyone of my reader can clarify this point; it will be great help for all internet users with which they can save themselves from such cyber victimization.

Let's go through the mail contents; I received today only.

=============================================

From: FREE-LOTTO AFFILIATED OFFICE U.K (info@lotto.co.uk)
Sent: Sat, September 25, 2010 7:06:03 PM
Subject: YOU HAVE WON $2,000,000.00 (Two Million United State Dollars)

FROM: GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED
FREE-LOTTO AFFILIATED OFFICE U.K,
82 VICTORIA STREET VICTORIA LONDON SW1 U.K

We gladly announce to you the draw of the FREE-LOTTO on-line International
program held this month of September 2010. Your e-mail address was entered
as dependent clients with: Reference Serial Number: F2-003-036 and Batch
number R/45-300-07. Your email address attached to the ticket number:

54-20-17-52-34-30 that draws the lucky winning number, which consequently
won the Daily Jackpot in the first category A for the year 2010.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $2,000,000.00
(Two Million United State Dollars) in cash credited to file reference
number: FR/9900034943/JPT.
This is from a total cash prize of £17,000,000 million shared amongst the
first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category i.e. Match 5 plus bonus.
To file for your claim,

Please contact our FREE-LOTTO Fiduciary

Mr. Daniel Coleman.
(Free lotto Fiduciary Department)
82 Victoria Street
Victoria London SW1 U.K
Email: camelot.lotto2010@gmx.com

Full Names:
Address:
Age:
Country:
Telephone:
Occupation:

Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Aronin
Chairman & CEO

Copyright © 1995-2010
The FREE-LOTTO National Lottery Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Service
- Guideline
===========================================

When I gone through a little investigation process I found few very good tips, on joewein.de LLC, which are worth sharing with my readers:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
  • "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
• This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
  
  1. They don't notify winners by email.
  2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
  3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
  4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
  5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
  6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
  7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447024069821 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • danicole209@aol.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Facebook Tech Problems Made Cyber Criminals a Path to Make Inroads

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Recently, on 23rd September, Facebook experienced serious technical difficulties which made the site unavailable for many users. This Scenario offered cyber criminals a good chance to trap innocent internet users and these culprits managed to spread a "Warning Message", purporting to from the BBC news team, claims that Facebook's main system has been hacked and users should change passwords immediately.

The warning is invalid and does not originate with BBC News. In fact, around the 23rd September 2010, Facebook suddenly unavailable for many users due to serious technical problems. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Facebook was hacked or that the password system or personal information was compromised or lost. Facebook was running normally by 24th September with no reports of security breaches or data loss.

Let's have a look tho the contents of the 'warning message':

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September 2010 you may have noticed that facebook servers have crashed and that you cannot sign in or on, this is because a group of hackers have hacked the main system, the facebook team are trying to save what they can, it is advised if facebook does come up and running again you ...change your password immediately. Thanks BBC news team try get the msg round as quick as possible.


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Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

According to this message, which rather ironically, is circulating very rapidly around Facebook itself, the social network was compromised on 23rd September 2010 because a group of hackers gained access to Facebook's "main system". The message advises that the Facebook team is trying to save information and that, if Facebook does come back up, users should change their password immediately. The warning claims to be from the BBC news team.

However, the warning has no basis in fact and should not be taken seriously. And the message is certainly not from BBC news.

Facebook did experience serious technical problems around the 23rd September. These problems meant that Facebook was not available or ran very slowly for many users around the world. However, there are no credible reports that suggest that the network was hacked, or in any way compromised during these outages. Nor are they any reports that any data on the network was lost during the problems.

The site was apparently back up and operating normally for most users by 24th September. A 24 September post on the Facebook "About" page notes:

We've resolved the technical difficulties that caused the site to be unavailable for a number of people. Everyone should now have access to Facebook. We apologize for the inconvenience.

An earlier post noted:

We’re currently experiencing some site issues causing Facebook to be slow or unavailable for some people. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

And a September 23 CNN news article notes:

(CNN) -- Facebook was down for many users for several hours Thursday, the second day in a row access to the site was hampered.

"Today we experienced technical difficulties causing the site to be unavailable for a number of users," a spokeswoman said in an email. "The issue has been resolved and everyone should now have access to Facebook. We apologize for any inconvenience." The problem started early Thursday afternoon and was resolved by about 5:30 p.m. ET.

Thus it seems that some prankster has used the technical problems as a cover story to add weight to this false security warning. Spreading such false information will help no one.

Snake inside The Computer - - Reality of Email Message

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Email with attached photographs claims that a technician found a snake inside a computer after the user reported hearing hissing noises and a bad smell.

The photographs are genuine and they do indeed show a dead snake found inside a computer. However, the description has been somewhat embellished. See detailed analysis for more information.

Contects of the said mail are like following:

=========================================

Subject: Fwd: computer problems

TECH SUPPORT 'Hello, technical support, how can I help you?'

LADY: 'Last night my computer started making a lot of hissing noise at me so I shut it down. This morning when I turned it on the computer started hissing and cracking, then started smoking and a bad smell, then nothing.'

SUPPORT: 'I will have a technician come over first thing this morning, just leave the computer just like it is, so they can find the problem and fix it, or change it out with another computer. Give me your address; phone number and the technician will be there just as soon as they can'

When the technician got there, the lady showed the technician where the computer was, told him what happened to it and this is what the technician found wrong. Take a look at the pictures...! And you thought you had computer problems!

The technician told her it must have been after the mouse! The woman didn't think it was very funny at all.

==========================================

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

This email forward tells the tale of a woman who called technical support after her computer started producing strange hissing noises, a bad smell, and smoke before it stopped working completely. According to the message, when the technician arrived to diagnose the problem, he found a recently deceased snake inside the computer tower. Photographs that accompany the message show the hapless reptile being removed from its unusual hiding place, apparently after being electrocuted.

The photographs are genuine and the snake was indeed found dead inside the computer by a technician. However, the description that comes with the photographs has been somewhat embellished.

Reader Wendy Collett narrated the story about the discovery. She explains: I can give you the original story of the situation.

The technician who’s hands are shown in the photos is Brian Fox (now deceased), from Brisbane, Australia.

He was called to a job site which was a gardening/grass-growing farm in the general area of Boonah, Queensland, Australia, which the office area had some small holes in the walls, and sometimes had vermin in the office area. The office people called him one day because their computer wasn’t working when it was turned on (they had heard a hissing noise when they turned it on), and he came to site. He first put his hand around the back of the computer to ‘feel’ whether the cords were all in place, then he spun the computer around to find the snake!

The snake is a baby red-belly black snake, which is highly deadly (when alive). It apparently crawled into the computer seeking the warmth of the computer fan after it was turned off for the day, and got electrocuted on the power source on the way out.

This happened in approximately 2002/2003.

Brian gave me a copy of the photos, and I put them on the website I had at the time, and shared the information with a newsgroup forum I used to help moderate for the GoldMine program, called www.contactreview.com (original website since disappeared) - within a couple of days, it was the most popular items on my website, and I had many international visitors having a look. I took down my old website in about 2006, so these photos have certainly been circulating a long time!

The tech support story has been made up, and there was never anything about it being a mouse. Brian did tell me that he never again put his hand behind a computer before first checking visually that there was no more snakes, and he also told me that the grass-growing farm had the holes in the office wall fixed immediately afterwards.

Brian was a bit of a joker and always enjoyed a laugh, but I can guarantee, this was deadly serious, and he took the photos because he thought nobody would believe him if he didn’t!

Sadly, Brian passed away about 2 years ago, so he is unable to speak for himself on this situation, but I hope you enjoy the REAL story of the photos, and learn from the lesson – ALWAYS visually check behind your computer before you reach to ‘feel’ the cords!

Cheers,
Wendy Collett

Mars and Earth - - At The Closest Point in the History

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Email claims that Earth and Mars will have the closest approach in recorded history in August and will be a spectacular sight for stargazers.

In fact, the event described did occur back in 2003, but this message is now hopelessly outdated. No such close approach will occur in July or August 2010.

The subjected mail looks like as under:

=====================================

Subject: Mars - August 27th must see

Get those telescopes out!

Something to look forward to this summer.

Mars

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide at a modest 75-power magnification.

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your children and grandchildren.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

=================================

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

An email that has circulated during July and August for several years is again hitting inboxes in 2010. The message informs recipients that the planet Mars will be passing very close to Earth in August. While this information was valid back in 2003, it is totally inaccurate for 2010. One of the 2010 incarnations of the hoax consists of a PowerPoint slide presentation that provides basically the same information as contained in the above email along with several more photographs of Mars

The year is not specifically mentioned in the message and a great many recipients therefore assume that the message refers to August, 2010. Virtually identical (and equally misleading) messages were circulating back in July and August 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The events outlined in the message were more or less true back in 2003 although they were a little hyped even then. According to NASA, on August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars were the closest they have been for around 60,000 years. Mars was indeed a spectacular site in the night sky during several months of 2003.

However, this fact is not quite as earth shattering as you might think. A 2003 NASA article on the subject explains that:

Much has been made of the fact that the August 27th encounter with Mars is the closest in some 60,000 years. Neanderthals were the last to observe Mars so favorably placed. This is true. It's also a bit of hype. Mars and Earth have been almost this close many times in recent history.

And, during 2010, the view of Mars will be far less than "spectacular". In an article about the hoax, Science website EarthSky notes:

In both July and August of 2010, Mars is low in the west after sunset. Not only is it not as large as a full moon, it’s barely noticeable as a tiny dot of light in the sunset glare. In July 2010, Mars is one of several planets – including Saturn, Venus and Mercury – in that part of the sky.

Around August 27 – the day of the hoax – Mars will be near the planet Venus on our sky’s dome. Venus will guide your eye to Mars.

Why is Mars so faint in the summer of 2010? If you did not know where to look for it, you’d never notice it. It’s faint because it’s far away from us now.

In fact, the closest approach of Mars to the Earth for 2010 has already occurred back in January 2010. Even then, at 99 million kilometers Mars was still a lot further away than it was in 2003 when it was only 56 million kilometers from Earth. In reference to this January 2010 encounter, astronomy website SEDS noted:

Mars will come into Opposition on January 29, 2010 in the constellation Cancer. Two days before, on January 27, 2010, the planet will have come to its closest approach to Earth during this apparation: 99.33 million km (0.66399 AU). This is not very close, as Mars will be quite close to its aphelion at the time of this opposition; the aphelion is passed on March 31, 2010. This opposition will occur during Northern Spring and Southern Autumn on Mars, so primarily observable will be the Northern hemisphere of Mars.

Thus, like the earlier incarnations of this hoax, the claims in the 2010 version are nonsense.

This message seems set to keep resurfacing every year and duping a whole new set of recipients into gazing rather fruitlessly at the night sky. But don't despair! Close encounters with Mars are not such uncommon events. The claim that "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!" is misleading. It is true that the next time Mars will be as close to Earth as it was in 2003 will be on August 28, 2287. In the mean time however, there will be plenty of other close approaches, so our children and our children's children are not likely to miss out altogether.

Charity Hoax Reality - - Baby With An Extraordinarily Large Head

Beware! It's a Cyber World - - Summary:

Email that includes attached images of a baby with a severely enlarged head claims that, each time the email is forwarded, money will be donated to help pay for an operation to help the child.

The claims in the message are false. No money will be donated to help this child when the email is forwarded. Any message that claims that donations will be made in exchange for forwarding is certain to be a hoax. It is unclear if the images have been manipulated or if the baby in the photographs has a severe case of a medical condition such as hydrocephalus. Either way, forwarding the message will not help this baby.

Actual contents of the mail are:

================================================

Subject: 1 forward he gets 3.00 Thai baht

Whilst you are aware of your smiles, when you smile, someone is not aware if it is a smile or if they will ever smile. This Family needs our help………………if you forward this mail to one person, they will get $3.00 Thai Bhat that will go towards the operation……… I hope that you will pass along just as I did…

Thank you…..





+===================================

Beware! It's a Cyber World - - Detailed Analysis:

This widely circulated email claims that you can help the family of a baby with a severe medical condition pay for a vital operation simply by forwarding the email to others. The message contains a series of attached images depicting an infant with an extremely enlarged head. According to the message, the family will receive three Thai Bhat (around 9 cents) each time the message is sent on to another person.

However, the claims in the message are untrue. Money will certainly not be donated to this child's family in exchange for forwarding the email. In fact, the message is just one more in a long series of similar charity hoaxes that claim that money will be donated when a particular message is forwarded.

The message makes no mention of how the email is to be tracked as it is forwarded nor does it state what organization or person will be giving the promised donations. In reality, there is simply no reliable or ethical method of tracking the journey of a specific email as it is forwarded again and again from thousands of email accounts all around the world. Therefore, it would be impossible to calculate in any reasonable or meaningful way just how many Thai Bhat the elusive benefactor would be obliged to give to the family. Moreover, it is vastly improbable that any company or charitable organization would ever agree to participate in such a ridiculous and ill-conceived fund raising scheme. Forwarding this absurd hoax email will do nothing whatsoever to help the baby shown in the images.

The message does not contain any information that would help identify the child in the images or ascertain the baby's current condition. Many commentators have suggested that the images have been altered using image manipulation software such as Photoshop. This suggestion may well be correct. However, it has also been suggested that the child may have a severe case of the medical condition hydrocephalus. This condition can result in unusually large head sizes in infants. A National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke fact sheet about hydrocephalus notes:

Symptoms of hydrocephalus vary with age, disease progression, and individual differences in tolerance to the condition. For example, an infant's ability to compensate for increased CSF pressure and enlargement of the ventricles differs from an adult's. The infant skull can expand to accommodate the buildup of CSF because the sutures (the fibrous joints that connect the bones of the skull) have not yet closed.

In infancy, the most obvious indication of hydrocephalus is often a rapid increase in head circumference or an unusually large head size. Other symptoms may include vomiting, sleepiness, irritability, downward deviation of the eyes (also called "sunsetting"), and seizures.

Thus, a severe case of hydrocephalus cannot be conclusively ruled out, at least until further information about the origin of the images becomes available.

And, even if the images do depict a baby with a real medical condition, it is important to understand that sending on this email will do nothing whatsoever to help. In fact, any message that claims that money will be donated in exchange for forwarding an email is sure to be a hoax and should not be forwarded.