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What to do if you've been "spammed"

So what do you do when your cousin forwards to you one of those e-mails that sounds legit, but raises some credibility flags? Dire warnings of catastrophic computer viruses, heart-tugging tales of dying children -- you want to do something to help, but what?

Wait a minute, you'e been "spammed" -- a new term coined to describe unsolicited, and sometimes useless, e-mail. So what do you do?

First, don't forward it, no matter how urgent the plea ("Send this to 10 friends within 10 minutes, and you will have fame and fortune.") Then, check it out. There are several resources at your disposal:

• E-mail the message to abuse@virginia.edu.
• Visit ITC's web site, http://www.itc.Virginia.EDU/itcweb/networks/web/security/sc_hoaxlinks.html. It offers several links to sites offering anti-virus software, listings of real and bogus viruses, and accounts of urban legends.
• There are several interesting sites that compile virus hoaxes and urban legends. Among the best are: http://kumite.com/myths/, http://www.urbanlegends.com, http://www.snopes.com, http://www.datafellows.fi/news/hoax.htm, and http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm.
• The federal government also offers an authoritative hoax site at http://www.ciac.org/ciac/. See especially the links at the bottom labeled "Hoaxes" and "Chain Letters."