As far as I'm concerned, e-mail is just about the best reason to have a computer. If the people you need to get in touch with are wired like you, sending an electronic message is quicker and cheaper than mailing a letter. It's also clearer, more concise, and way cheaper than a phone call. And e-mail enables you to attach and forward electronic documents, images, links, and other messages.

That last category —forwarded electronic messages— is a decidedly mixed blessing. Say someone sends you an urgent alert about antiperspirants causing breast cancer, a dire computer virus warning, or a petition to keep the South Sydney Rabbitoh’s in the National Rugby League competition. These issues concern you, but before you forward the message to the Shorthaired Terrier Fanciers mailing list, you'd better check first that it isn't completely bogus. In addition to looking like a gullible dope, you'd be adding more junk to the pile of spam, hoaxes, and useless blather your hound-loving cohorts have to slog through.

Fortunately, you don't have to guess which messages are real. Numerous Web sites are dedicated to unmasking electronic fabrications that just won't die. Rob Rosenberger's Computer Virus Myths page (www.kumite.com/myths) is the first place to look when you receive a message warning about imminent widespread viral destruction. Rosenberger is merciless with self-appointed virus experts and the credulous publications that quote them (see FIGURE 1).

Commercial antivirus sites like Symantec's AntiVirus Research Center (http://www.symantec.com.au/avcenter/hoax.html) maintain virus hoax lists. Be sure to check the hoax listings at these sites before forwarding a virus alert to Aunt Betty. If the suspect dispatch in your in-box smells more like an outright scam than a hoax, it's time to consult the

Internet ScamBusters at www.scambusters.org. The site tracks e-mail scams and investigates other electronic flimflam (think EBay Furby fraud). Subscribe to the electronic newsletter at www.scambusters.com/scambusters.html. It's free.