Chain email
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Chain email is a term used to describe emails that encourage you to forward them on to someone else.
These may be fairly harmless, for example a grammar school student wishing to see how many people can see his email for a science project. They may be illegal, as in the case of a Ponzi scheme asking you to send money and forward the email. They may be harmful, and contain a virus as a payload. They may contain false information, such as the famous "if you forward this a bunch of times Microsoft will donate money to save the squid" type emails. They may also be politically motivated, such as 'save the scouts, forward this to as many friends as possible.'
Emails that are forwarded simply because they are enjoyed, such as urban legends or jokes are not necessarily under the chain email category. Likewise, most spam is not chain email as it doesn't typically ask you to forward the email to your friends, though some people consider chain email to be a form of spam.
External links
Examples of urban-legend type chain emails
- Bill Gates offering $1,000 for forwarding email (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.htm)
- IWon.com offering cash prizes for forwarding email (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/iwon.htm)
- Charity getting money via forwarding email (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/children/mydek.htm)
- Help a dying child get into the Guinness Book of World Records by sending him business cards (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/children/shergold.htm)
Scam chain emails
- Ponzy shceme chain email (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/chain.htm)