Summary
Message claims that Microsoft / Bill Gates will give you money for forwarding emails

Status
False

(Full commentary below).

An old hoax has been circulating again. Does any one remember their mother, father, uncle or some other benevolent family members admonishment that "There is no free lunch" Well it seems that in hopes of receiving the ultimate freebie windfall, some folks have forgotten these basic lessons and chose to believe once again that Bill Gates and Microsoft are begging people to bring wheel barrels and take their money.

Here is a variation of this ridiculous scam:

SAMPLE: This thing is for real. Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their promises for fear of facing a multimillion-dollar class action suit similar to the one filed by PepsiCo against General Electric not too long ago. Dear Friends; Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, You will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL..... BLAH BLAH BLAH BLA

This is not true and the only article in CNN regarding this was a report that the hoax itself.
Companies never beg people to do silly little tasks that amount to pushing a button on their computer to receive 10's or 100's of thousands in cash.
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Fake $5 Off Target Coupons

Summary:
Email forward claims that attached $5 off Target coupons can be printed and continually used until October 2008 (Full commentary below).

Status:
False

Example:(Submitted, July 2008)

Subject: Re: $5 Target Coupons

I just got this email and haven't tried them yet but who doesn't spend $25 a trip at Target between now and October. Even if you just buy paper products and house hold stuff.
A friend of mine forwarded this to me. So I thought I'd share too.

To all of you Target lovers out there,

Attached are Target coupons that can be printed and used as many times as you'd like up until October. A friend of mine passed this on to me just last night. I didn't want to forward this on until she said she had checked it out, and sure enough, they work!

She said 'I was already planning to go to Target today and I saved $20 at the register! The cashier let me ring up 4 separate transactions and use a coupon each time. I passed out the other 4 coupons I had with me to other shoppers since I could go home and print more. Please pass this on to anyone else!'

Commentary:
According to this email forward, the attached coupons can be printed and used to receive 5 dollars off any purchase of $25 or more at Target stores. The message claims that the coupons can be reprinted and "used as many times as you'd like" until October, 2008 and urges the recipient to pass on copies of the coupons to others.

However, the coupons are in fact invalid and will not be accepted by Target. According to a Target press release, the coupons were originally distributed to a limited number of people via email and were valid for toy purchases only. The coupons were subsequently altered to make them appear valid for any purchase. The full Target press release about the invalid coupons is included below:

July 02, 2008

Target Coupon Fraudulently Tampered with and Transferred

Target no longer is able to accept the coupon

MINNEAPOLIS, Jul 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Unfortunately, due to fraudulent tampering and transferring, Target no longer is accepting coupon offers for $5 off a $25 or more toy or general merchandise purchase at Target. The coupons state they are valid through October 1, 2008.

Target sent the original coupons for $5 off a $25 or more toy purchase via e-mail to approximately 85,000 guests during the months of February and March. The altered coupon had an image and the word toy removed to make it appear to apply to any purchase.

Kathee Tesija, executive vice president, merchandising, Target, said, Our goal is to always surprise and delight our guests with great values, and we are disappointed that some of our guests may be inconvenienced by our need to respond to this fraudulent tampering and transferring.

Guests who originally received the coupon will be notified via e-mail that the coupon no longer is being accepted, and they also will receive a $5 Target GiftCard by mail. In addition, Target stores are posting signs at all check-out lanes alerting guests that these coupons are no longer valid.

About Target

Minneapolis-based Target serves guests at 1,613 stores in 47 states nationwide by delivering today's best retail trends at affordable prices. Target is committed to providing guests with great design through innovative products, in-store experiences and community partnerships. Whether visiting a Target store or shopping online at Target.com, guests enjoy a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to thousands of unique and highly differentiated items. Since 1946, the corporation has invested five percent of its income in the communities it serves. Target (NYSE:TGT) gives more than $3 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Target partners with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs.

SOURCE: Target
Target
Target Communications, 612-696-3400
Visit the Target Pressroom: www.Target.com/Pressroom

Thus, forwarding these fake coupons is nothing more than a waste of bandwidth. If you receive one of these emails, please let the sender know that the Target coupons are invalid.

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Applebee's Gift Certificate Hoax

Summary:
Email promises free Applebee's gift certificates for those who forward the message to a specified number of people (Full commentary below.)

Status:
False

Example:(Submitted via email, January 2005):

Subject: Applebee's - don't delete

My name is Bill Palmer, founder of Applebee's. In an attempt to get our name out to more people in the rural communities where we are not currently located, we are offering a $50 gift certificate to anyone who forwards this email to 9 of their friends. Just send this email to them and you will receive an email back with a confirmation number to claim your gift certificate. ! !

Sincerely
Bill Palmer
Founder of Applebee's Visit us at: www.applebees.com

Hey guys,
DON'T DELETE THIS EMAIL
It really works, I tried it and got my Gift certificate confirmation number in 3 minutes.

Commentary:

An email hoax that promises free gift certificates from Applebee's restaurants has been circulating around the Internet for several years. The message claims that by sending the email to 9 of your friends, you will receive a confirmation number that allows you to claim a $50 gift certificate. The implication is that the company will be able to ascertain via some kind of email tracking program when you have sent the message to 9 other people.

Like other hoaxes that claim a forwarded email is being tracked in some way, this is pure nonsense. Legitimate organizations do not and would not track particular email forwards across Cyberspace.

If you visit, the Applebee's Website, you will generally receive the following message in a pop-up window:

A fraudulent email chain message promising Applebee's® gift certificates for forwarding the message is currently making its way around the Internet. The message promises a gift certificate and a confirmation number after forwarding the message to a specific number of email addresses. Applebee's® International, Inc. does not sponsor or endorse this activity and is unable to fulfill these requests.

This hoax email should be relegated to the deleted items folder where it belongs.

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Wendy's Discount Food Hoax

Summary:
Message claims that fast-food chain Wendy's is offering heavily discounted food on 22nd October to celebrate its 60th anniversary (Full commentary below).

Status:
False Example:

(Submitted, October 2008) Subject: Wendys' 60th Anniversary Wendys' 60th Anniversary 10-22... 25¢ Burgers, Fries 15¢, Drinks 10¢ 60th Year Anniversary is Wednesday, October 22nd. All hamburgers will be sold for 25 cents, Cheeseburgers 30 cents, Fries 15 cents, and drinks are 10 cents!!! So, mark your calendars!

Commentary:
According to this message, which has been circulating via email, blogs and forums, popular fast-food outlet Wendy's will be offering customers substantially discounted food on Wednesday 22nd October as part of the company's 60th anniversary celebrations.

However, the claims in the message are untrue. Wendy's is offering no such discounts on the 22nd. Moreover, Wednesday 22nd October is not Wendy's 60th anniversary at all. The first Wendy's opened on November 15 1969, so the company is currently considerably short of it 60th year.

In fact, this message is nothing more than a mutated version of another current hoax that claims that In-N-Out Burgers is the company offering discounts on the 22nd. The following example of the In-N-Out message shows the similarities between the two versions of the hoax:

In-n-Out's 60th Year Anniversary is Wednesday, October 22nd. All hamburgers will be sold for 25 cents, Cheeseburgers 30 cents, Fries 15 cents, and drinks are 10 cents!!! So mark your calendars!

Circulating either version of the hoax will do nothing more that clutter inboxes and online communities with even more utterly useless information. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for supposed cut-off dates in such hoaxes to be changed by pranksters during the journey through cyberspace, so more mutated versions may continue to circulate even after 22nd October has well and truly come and gone.

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