Whenever a family member forwards an email with a warning about an urgent peril to my health, I immediately visit Snopes.com to confirm my suspicion that it’s a hoax. I then copy a link to the article and send it back, with a gently-worded request to please check Snopes before sending out similar emails.
Today’s threat (phenylpropanolamine) seemed designed to work around this firewall. It began thusly:
DRUG RECALL – VERY SERIOUS – CONFIRMED BY SNOPES.COM & FDA — tina
All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled.
Why, if it’s confirmed by Snopes, then it can’t be a hoax! But the actual page on Snopes says otherwise.
Dear developers, please answer my simple plea: a Snopes plugin for email.
It can take myriad forms, from server-side filtering ( “We think this is a hoax”) to a simple button or link ( “Check Snopes”). But it would save so much time and grief.