Minneapolis Crime Prevention Specialists are often asked to comment or advise residents about emails they receive warning them of new criminal tactics or of particular horrific crime sprees. While some of these "alerts" are genuine, many of them are simply hoaxes. Here is a recent example:
"Warning: Carjackers using new trick to fool victims! You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car, and get inside. You lock all your doors, start the engine and shift into reverse. Habit! You look into the rear view mirror to back out and you see a piece of paper, some sort of advertisement, stuck to your rear window. So, you shift into park, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to remove the paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view...when you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers jump out of nowhere...jump into your car and take off - your engine was running, your purse is in the car, and they practically mow you down as they speed off in your car. Be aware of this new scheme. Just drive away and remove the paper that is stuck to your window later... and be thankful that you read this email and that you forwarded it to your friends."
According to Snopes.com, a website devoted to debunking urban legends propagated on the Internet, this particular warning is totally false and has been circulating through email inboxes since 2004. So how do you distinguish between a genuine warning and a hoax? Fortunately, there are several common elements to look for that usually give them away.
There are four main features lacking from the above email that should make anyone suspicious. There is no attribution (who says this is happening?), no location (where did this take place? Minneapolis, San Diego, Beijing?), and no time frame (did this happen yesterday or was it five years ago?). Such emails also lack a specific contact name for more information or questions.
Usually when we receive an email from a friend or colleague, we assume that the information is relevant to us. If they're warning us about something, we naturally assume that it happened locally and that it happened recently. But the nature of the Internet and email is such that once a story gets sent out, it can persist for years and be sent anywhere in the world. That's what makes the Internet such a great medium for spreading hoaxes and urban legends.
Email hoaxes like the one above often contain some sort of dramatic or frightening story designed to create a sense of urgency. Sometimes they contain lurid accounts of gruesome, sensational crimes, all meant to instill a sense of fear in the reader. In some sense, it can be like telling ghost stories around the campfire, except that in these cases the intent is to actually deceive the reader into believing that they're true.
Another key feature of such hoaxes is the encouragement to forward the "warning" to all of your friends and colleagues. An important feature of email is the ease with which one can forward information to a large audience. This makes it an excellent medium for perpetuating hoaxes.
Even the "experts" can be fooled. Such hoaxes are sometimes circulated within law enforcement agencies as well. This can make it harder to distinguish between real and false warnings. Nevertheless, nearly any legitimate crime alert issued by a genuine law enforcement agency will contain specifics about when and where the crime pattern happened, and will offer contact information for people who have further questions.
If you receive an email warning like the one described above check it out before passing it on. First, contact your MPD Crime Prevention Specialist. He or she can tell you if the Minneapolis Police Department is aware of the alleged crime threat. Check out www.snopes.com which does a very good job of tracking, verifying and debunking urban legends. If Snopes.com has heard of the warning they'll have a description of it, its history on the Internet, and an assessment of its truthfulness. It's a great resource for understanding urban legends and hoaxes.
By exercising common sense and a reasonable degree of skepticism we can all do our part to reduce the massive amount of misinformation circulating through cyberspace and into our email inboxes. We will also reduce the level of unwarranted fear and anxiety that these hoaxes cause in our community.