Chain-letters: the good, the bad and the ugly

The ISG has issued a warning about chain-letters that have been circulating, usually through text message or Hotmail addresses.  Unfortunately, a few of these include serious threats and photos of mutilated bodies.  Some of them have a subject line like 'This is dirty', 'This will make you sick...' or 'This is really wrong so sorry' and may come to you as spam (junk email), or text message or from someone you know.  If you get this message, delete it immediately.  Do not pass it on.  Some of these messages are illegal to send in New Zealand and could frighten or upset those you send it to.

What is a chain-letter?

Chain-letters can be silly (pass this on to 10 friends and you get three wishes) or nasty (if you don't pass this on to 10 friends you will have very bad luck).  Some are worse and threaten death.  Chain-letters are hoaxes - nothing will happen if you don't pass the letter on.  Just delete them.

What can you do?

If you received one of these threatening chain-letters from someone you don't know, just delete.

If you received this from someone you know, you can email or text them and ask them not to pass it on to anyone else.  Tell them it is a very serious issue and definitely not a joke.  If they sent it out of fear, assure them it was a hoax and refer them to this website.  You could also ask them to get in touch with anyone they sent it on to, and the person who originally sent it to them, and pass on the message about it being a very serious hoax.

If you are upset about the message in the chain-letter perhaps you can talk with your parent or caregiver, or perhaps a guidance counsellor, if there is one at your school.  You can also call toll-free 0508 NETSAFE.  These chain-letters can be really awful, and when connected to the threat in the message, can be hard to forget.  If you know a number of students in your school have received the same text/email, perhaps you could ask a staff member at school if the subject could be discussed in class or assembly.

Aside from the question of the illegality, there is also the issue of how cruel sending such a message can be.   Even if you intend something as a joke, it may reverberate with the recipient in ways you didn't intend and be very hurtful.  It is always best in cyberspace to treat others with respect, so don't send this, or other such messages and images, to anyone else.