Warning for motorists

[marymck]

I'm posting this just as I received it in an e-mail because, despite the CAPS, I think it's important that people have the information that this kind of thing may be going on. (By the way, it was sent from a reliable work colleague of my husband, so I fear it may be true.)

Whilst driving on a rural end of the roadway on Thursday morning, I saw an infant car seat on the side of the road with a blanket draped over it. For whatever reason, I did not stop, even though I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. But when I got to my destination, I called the Police and they were going to check it out. But, this is what the Police advised even before they went out there to check.... "There are several things to be aware of ... gangs and thieves are now plotting different ways to get a person (mostly women)to stop their vehicle and get out of the car. "There is a gang initiation reported by the local Police where gangs are placing a car seat by the road...with a fake baby in it...waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the abandoned baby. "Note that the location of this car seat is usually beside a wooded or grassy (field) area and the person -- woman -- will be dragged into the woods, beaten and raped, and usually left for dead. If it's a man, they're usually beaten and robbed and maybe left for dead, too. DO NOT STOP FOR ANY REASON!!! DIAL 9-9-9 AND REPORT WHAT YOU SAW, BUT DON'T EVEN SLOW DOWN. "IF YOU ARE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND EGGS ARE THROWN AT YOUR WINDSCREEN, DO NOT STOP TO CHECK THE CAR, DO NOT OPERATE THE WIPER AND DO NOT SPRAY ANY WATER BECAUSE EGGS MIXED WITH WATER BECOME MILKY AND BLOCK YOUR VISION UP TO 92.5%, AND YOU ARE THEN FORCED TO STOP BESIDE THE ROAD AND BECOME A VICTIM OF THESE CRIMINALS. THIS IS A NEW TECHNIQUE USED BY GANGS, SO PLEASE INFORM YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. THESE ARE DESPERATE TIMES AND THESE ARE UNSAVOURY INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL TAKE DESPERATE MEASURES TO GET WHAT THEY WANT." Please talk to your loved ones about this. This is a new tactic used. Please be safe. Get started NOW -- SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES TO BE CAREFUL

[michael]

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/infant-car-s ... ning.shtml

Thus, forwarding this bogus warning will help no one. Sending on such misinformation serves only to spread unnecessary fear and alarm in communities and waste the time and resources of police staff who must answer endless queries from members of the public about the supposed crimes. If you receive this message, please do not forward it to others. And please take a moment to inform the sender that the message is a hoax.

[Annie]

Michael,
Better to be safe than sorry as my old mum used to say,
How do you or I know that the Hoax - Slayer is real?
Its like a lot on the net, you take it with a pinch of salt.

[admin]

Thank you Michael for quick response.

Would anyone please do a Google before posting chain letters/posts. Most are hoaxes and are easily exposed as such. You can doublecheck Hoax-slayers claims to be confident. You can also see that it has been circulating for at least two years and worldwide so it is not specific to any particular risk here and now.

There are plenty of the latter. We look to our local SNT to alert us to those that are relevant.

Admin

[Rachael]

Michael,
Better to be safe than sorry as my old mum used to say,
How do you or I know that the Hoax - Slayer is real?
Its like a lot on the net, you take it with a pinch of salt.

Hoaxes are dangerous, because the more of them prove to be hoaxes, the more we ignore them, until one day we ignore important information that is NOT a hoax. Like the boy who cried wolf. Hoax-slayer is a reliable source of information and admin is right - you should always check before you pass something on. Some people could get seriously scared by this sort of thing.

You should take your own advice and take anything you get online or are passed by a friend via email (when it has clearly been forwarded many times by a friend of a friend of a friend) will a large pinch of salt.

[Annie]

You should take your own advice and take anything you get online or are passed by a friend via email (when it has clearly been forwarded many times by a friend of a friend of a friend) will a large pinch of salt.[/quote]


Just to correct you , I did not post the original post.

[Rachael]

You're right, sorry.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Annie]

Thats ok

[marymck]

rsdunlop wrote:

you should take your own advice and take anything you get online or are passed by a friend via email (when it has clearly been forwarded many times by a friend of a friend of a friend) will a large pinch of salt.

OK I started this thread and I apologise if it caused alarm. BUT I posted it in good faith. It was not sent to me as part of a chain, I was the only named recipient of the e-mail and there was no indication (as there usually is with chain emails) that it had been forwarded.

It came from a reliable work colleague of my husband, who regularly uses CAPs and exclamation works in his correspondence. Phrases like

rural end of the roadway

, also tally with the sort of locations my husband and his colleagues visit.

I also qualified my posting by stating:

I think it's important that people have the information that this kind of thing may be going on.

I did underline "may".

We have had postings recently about attempted car jackings in Sydenham, where motorists have been allegedly flagged down. Perhaps these postings were hoaxes also. Let's hope so. Have hoax-slayer been made aware of those postings?

Admin: please can you forward the earlier thread to Hoax-slayer so they can check it out. After all, until that is done we don't know it's genuine either, do we?

I believe Annie was right when she said better be safe than sorry, but I shan't post any more warnings about dangerous things I'm told about in the area.

[michael]

That's the thing about hoax emails, there are a lot of aspects that may look genuine, terms like 'last Thursday' and 'rural road' are deliberately ambiguous, designed to catch you out. The clear sign of a hoax or chain email is the last line 'SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES TO BE CAREFUL'

Please don't feel stupid about passing it on. Too many people do pass on these things, thinking they are genuine. But you can now join those of us who check these stories on Hoax Slayer before passing them on, it only takes a few minutes. Similarly it is important to inform those who pass on these messages that they are hoaxes, so that they can be on the lookout for similar emails and spot them before sending them on to all their contacts.

[maestro]

The Evening Standard is full of exactly the same sort of scaremongering too.....

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... eteries.do

[admin]

There is no need to feel embarrassed, defensive or apologetic Mary. I'm sure everyone here has been taken in by an internet scam/spam. I have. Its a coming of your (internet) age thing! The point is to stop it being repeated by highlighting one when you see it. That's what Michael did.

Google and urban myth/hoax sites are a great antidote. That should be end of story.

Sadly these chainmails do harm - I myself holding up the genuine warning about the Sydenham hijackings because of previous stuff like this.

Admin

[marymck]

Thanks to Maestro for the link to the news story about a dreadful distraction scam ... one that happened in London and one that is most definitely not a hoax. It shows the lengths some people are going to just to steal a car.

I personally think those two should have been charged with attempted murder, as a broken pelvis can be very, very serious as it can cause catastrophic internal bleeding.