Just in case you can’t see the post it says;
The Ukash virus that locks your computer until you pay $100 to the AFP is not from us! DO NOT PAY, and report the incident to SCAMwatch on 1300 795 995 or go to www.scamwatch.gov.au.
This was posted 14th June so it’s pretty current. Definitely one to pass on to your frineds.
Thanks to Michelle for sharing 
CGT
I have to say the fact that is still doing rounds surprised (dismays) me and I’m not surprised by much these days!
I figured everyone must have heard the, “guy wakes up in ice bath” kidney theft hoax by now surely? It’s been going since 1997 (as far as I cared to trace it back). Apparently not. This showed up on a friend of a friends Facebook page FOUR DAYS ago.
I wasn’t even going to bother mentioning it but then I read it and two things that made me smile;
The First Thing That Made Me Smile.
The author of the first post stresses that this is a TRUE STORY which is CONFIRMED by the simple fact that the phone number is real. Good-O. I’ve got one for you, check this out:
“BREAKING NEWS: Popular BBC television show, Doctor Who was revealed today to not be a fiction at all but in fact a documentary following the true life of a Time Lord from Gallifrey.
Please contact the BBC for more information on: 020 7765 1064. “
MUST BE TRUE – The phone number is real!
This started as an EMAIL hoax, it is that old! It’s done the rounds of hundreds of cities in many countries around the globe. This particular Australian version that has found it’s way onto Facebook (complete with the same name AND phone number), has been around since at least 2006. I’m not sure how else to put it. IT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE.
oh and another thing ……
“The story is not medically plausible because a kidney from a random stranger would not be suitable to most transplant patients and a hotel room is not sufficiently sterile for such an operation to be viable. In April 2000 the National Kidney Foundation issued a public statement denouncing the report as an “urban myth run amok”.” joewein.de
But these hoaxes are not done there, oh no!
The Second Thing That Made Me Smile
If you were born with an intelligence even slightly above that of your average potato and spot the oldest hoax in the book there is a second “story” to get you thinking. It goes a little something like this ……….
Another story…..
I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3.30 pm in the Coles Parking lot at Noranda by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I’d like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email some weeks go, warning of this scam. The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, I pointed at them and told her about how I was sent an email at work about someone walking up to you at the malls, in parking lots, and asking you to sniff perfume that they are selling at a cheap price.
THIS IS NOT PERFUME – IT IS ETHER!
When you sniff it, you’ll pass out and they’ll take your wallet, your valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this email, I probably would have sniffed the ‘perfume’, but thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me, and wanted to do the same for you. These guys hit Sydney and Melbourne 2 weeks ago and now they are doing it in Perth and Queensland …
IF YOU ARE HUMAN AND RECEIVE THIS PLEASE PASS IT ON TO ALL THE WOMEN (EVERYONE) YOU KNOW!!!
I am human – I’m a smart human (smart enough to know that you meant “every one” and not “everyone”) but no I shall not be passing it on to ANYONE or indeed, any one of the women that I know.
Again, this has been around for donkeys years (anyone know the origin of that phrase?) in many different places. Hoax-Slayer has a pretty good list of occurrences but it ranges from ASDA and Tesco in the UK to New Zealand and a petrol station in Belfast.
So there you have it. A buy one get one free hoaxes that have, for a long old time, been denied but now are officially
DEBUNKED!
CGT
Nope, and neither are some FB users.
This one was lovingly sent in from the pages of Kerry.
We’ve had empty baby seats left in the road, eggs and rocks thrown at car windscreens and now crying little boys with nothing other than an address on a bit of paper.
Seriously?
Talk about far fetched! This warning doesn’t contain enough detail to be legit. It doesn’t even say what country these supposed “attacks” took place in, there are no details to speak of at all in fact. Combined with a dubious use of English; this one is a straightforward BA BOW!
Please apply some common sense before blindly re-posting these ridiculous warnings.
DEBUNKED
Many thanks to our FB friend Erin for sending in this one.
The story goes that “Lauren” is driving home when an unmarked police car attempts to pull her over. Wiley “Lauren” knows better than to pull over on a deserted road and calls 112 and speaks to the police who say that there are no umarked cars in pursuit and promptly arrive and arrest the “convicted rapist”.
I traced this story back to 2001 when “Lauren” lived in Virginia, USA and she also pops up in Dorset, UK in 2006, Ontario, Canada in 2010 and now in Australia twelve years later.
Snopes.com investigated the original claim in 2001 and could find no police reports/arrest records that matched this account.
Either “Lauren” is one hell of a well travelled and incredibly unlucky girl or this is a big fat hoax! I should point out that by this I refer to the current, 12 year old, somewhat altered from the original, version – the origins and it’s truth remain neither bunked nor debunked.
The story does offer some good advice about unmarked police cars, there is documented evidence of nasty pasties pretending to be police to commit crime. Although you are obliged to pull over to unmarked police cars you also have the right to do so in a “safe place” and should call the emergency number of your country if you have any doubts.
Regardless, “Lauren” and the fake dibble in 2013, in Australia – DEBUNKED!
Many thanks to Kerry in Derbyshire, UK for sharing this one with us.
Apparently, not satisfied with their coloured sticker plans for nicking your “best friends,” the cunning dog-nappers have bought themselves a van.
Seems from this photo, sent to us by Kerry, that this one has not only shifted from Sussex to Derbyshire (via everywhere else) but also busted out of the Social Media world into a laminated “real world” sign If you ask me some people have too much time and too easy access to laminators!
Unfortunately, this same white van with exactly the same rego (RH57 WSU) has been spotted spiriting away pooches the length and breadth of the country.
I’ve had a good look at this and there is no credible source to either of these instances. No credible news sites are reporting it and neither the Sussex nor Derbyshire Police have any mention on their Websites.
….and correct me if I’m wrong but I thought that British rego’s either had the number 50 or 52 (it’s been a while since I’ve been there so I could be wrong!)
We say DEBUNKED! You’re pooches are safe (at least from the white van man!)
A bit of a variation from the baby seat robbers. You know what they say a change is as good as a rest!
Either way it’s not true. According to About.com this has been doing rounds in various formats since 2009. There was no proof then and there is no proof now.
What I do love about this hoax is the science bit (concentrate); Someone, somewhere has calculated that egg mixed with water and thrown at a windscreen reduces vision by 92.5%. Sounds ridiculous.
Reminds me of another favourite saying, “Approximately 92.78% of all statistics are made up on the spot”
DEBUNKED!
Information on and verification of hoaxes, semi-hoaxes, chainletters, scams and related nuisances.
