Experts at MicroWorld
Technologies have found that a hoax email about
‘lead’ content in lipstick that originated
in year 2003, is coming back to do rounds once again.
A classic case of Urban Legend, this one originated
in the year 2003 and is spreading fast once again
particularly among the fairer gender.
Though there are many variants, the major one goes
like this;
“There is a female you care anything about,
share this with her. I did!! I am also sharing this
with the males on my email list, because they need
to tell the females THEY care about as well! Recently
a brand called "Red Earth" decreased their
prices from $67 to $9.90. It contained lead. Lead
is a chemical which causes cancer.”
Then it gives a list of leading lipstick manufacturers
who allegedly use lead in their lipsticks. What follows
is the most interesting part, where it advises you
to try a test to find out the lead presence in lipstick.
The mail says,
1. Put some lipstick on your hand.
2. Use a Gold ring to scratch on the lipstick.
3. If the lipstick color changes to black then you
know the lipstick contains lead.
CancerHelp UK, a Cancer Research Organization, rubbished
these claims as they haven’t found any lead content
in lipsticks manufactured by major brands referred
in the mail. Most of the developed nations have stringent
norms and regulations on the usage of dangerous substances
in consumer products and unless there’s a warning
from authorities, there is no need to panic. As for
the test, it’s no chemical test at all and sounds
more like medieval alchemy!
“This one is just another hoax. We have seen
many such mails targeting shampoo, deodorant, washing
powder, toothpaste and alike. Their prime aim seems
to be spreading unnecessary alarm around the world”
views Govind Rammurthy, CEO, MicroWorld.
Chain mails can cause clogging of mailboxes while
robbing enterprises of precious bandwidth, he points
out.
If you analyze the reason behind its mass proliferation,
it’s your urge to fight against injustice. Someone
is taking up the cudgels against monstrous, heartless
business houses and you feel obliged to support the
fighter wholeheartedly. To help the cause, it doesn’t
take more than clicking a forward button.
“Hoaxes are just another malice on the web which
need to be debunked. If you encounter mails like these,
please delete them and don’t forward the same
to friends and colleagues.” urged Govind Rammurthy.
MicroWorld
MicroWorld (www.mwti.net)
are the developers of the world's first Real-Time
AntiVirus and Content Security software eScan
for desktops and servers. Its communication security
software, MailScan
is the first comprehensive e-mail scanner for your
SMTP/POP3 Mail Server. MicroWorld
Winsock Layer (MWL) is the revolutionary technology
underlying these products, powering them to several
certifications and awards by some of the most prestigious
testing bodies, notable among them being Virus Bulletin,
Checkmark, TUCOWS, Red Hat Ready, and Novell Ready.
Combining their powerful scanner with MWL technology,
MicroWorld solutions provide a Real-Time Proactive
security for your systems. For network security of
enterprises, eConceal Firewall is the latest
powerful offering from MicroWorld.
To learn more, kindly visit http://www.mwti.net.
