How do you know if a chain letter is legitimate?

Chain letters, fake virus warnings, petition letters, and other Internet hoaxes sent in email messages can often mislead, trick or frighten recipients into forwarding the messages on to others. Chain letters waste time and bandwidth. Chain letters often supply spammers with addresses which in turn interfere with receiving legitimate email.

There are three basic types of chain letters:

• Those which promise good luck or threaten bad luck
• Pyramid-scheme letters that promise to make you lots of money (it is illegal to ask for money or product in a chain letter)
• Hoaxes or urban legends related to police incidents, health issues, computer viruses or missing children.

Break the chain:

• Legitimate warnings and notifications are not issued through email. Reputable organizations use more timely and effective communication like TV, radio or newspapers to warn the public.
• Validate email alerts and messages by checking the "sender's" website or contact them using a trusted phone number.
• Use Google or a similar search engine to conduct an advanced search on the subject of the message to verify its authenticity.
• Delete chain letters and hoax messages when they appear in your inbox.
• If in doubt, forward the email to your Internet Service Provider, your computer security manager or check an urban legend website to validate the information.