How to Not Get Creeped out by a Chain Letter

Chủ nhật - 05/05/2024 23:24

You come home from school or work. You take off your shoes, turn on the TV and check your email. You look around and see a message. You read it and you realize it's a piece of chain mail with a threat! If you don't forward it to 10 people,...

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You come home from school or work. You take off your shoes, turn on the TV and check your email. You look around and see a message. You read it and you realize it's a piece of chain mail with a threat! If you don't forward it to 10 people, you'll get a frightening consequence. What to do? This how-to explains how to deal with this (this also works on comments on such sites as YouTube).

Sample Chain Letters

Sample Emotional Chain Letter

Sample Scary Chain Letter

Method 1

Method 1 of 1:

Avoiding Getting Creeped Out

What is the chain mail?^{[1] X Research source} Is it, "BBQ at my house! I won't like if you don't come!"? If it is, you're fine (it's not really an alarming thing, just a friend who expects you to show up and might be sore at you if you don't). If not, continue on.

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Usually at the top there is something such as, "Don't read this" or "Stop". If there is, you should stop and delete it. Chain letters often tell you to "read" or "don't read" as a ploy, playing on your initial curiosity so if you read them, they'll eventually hit you with a bunch of baloney designed to push your panic button or use any other emotion you have against you for one purpose only: to get you spreading it further. However, if you are curious, or a rebel or just want to read it, continue. It's just a piece of text with maybe some graphics and animations. It can't actually do anything to you.^{[2] X Research source}

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Often the email or comment will be some story, commonly about some monster or fictional dead kid attacking people. Don't lose your head and get scared. There's no such thing as monsters, you've known that since you were small. No chain letter is going to cause one to blip into existence to kill you or anyone else. You know dead people are dead, and can't go around attacking you, pulling you down some nonexistent well or do any of the things these supposedly creepy chain letters claim. None of these creepy stories forwards can actually cause that to happen, either. If you choose to read it, keep in mind the fact that every one of these scary chain email stories are absolutely untrue. Keep thinking this as you read it.

Take a step back to decompress. "I always get sent these or memes with a scary picture saying you'll die at 3 AM if you don't re-post, and it freaks me out. This helped calm my nerves and take my mind off it." - Clarissa I.

See the humor in it. "This made me feel a lot safer. I got a chainmail on Facebook, and it gave me an example of someone who 'died' as well, I find it funny after reading this. I've even shown this to some of my friends." - Deborah Y.

Take a moment to breathe. "This really helped me be less scared and realize it's fake. I got a chain letter and reposted it to 15 people out of a panic. When I searched online and realized the letter was fake, I started to calm down. I never repost them anymore and, instead, I delete them." - Carly S.

Talk through the fear. "This helped my little sibling get over her fear of the chain letter she got yesterday about a ghost. At first she was hysterical, screaming that she is scared, but I showed her this and sat down to talk to her about it, and she is fine after not sending it." - Azlyn B.

Remember these aren't real. "I was recently seeing more of these posts. I would be scrolling through Twitter, and I would come across a post saying, "If you don't send this to 20 people, a girl will come and kill you at 3 AM." I looked this article up and it helped a lot! I know now that these are fake." - Rae J.

Did you know that wikiHow has collected over 365,000 reader stories since it started in 2005? We’d love to hear from you! Share your story here.

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After you read the story, it will say something like, "If you do not send this to ten more people, you will die in two days." Think again: Will this really happen to you? Will you actually die because you didn't send an email? How is it even possible that a made up story and text and pixels created by some anonymous hoaxer can actually kill you? It can't, any more than your computer monitor and keyboard. There's no more chance of a piece of made-up email tracking you down and killing you than there is of your computer suddenly coming to life and giving you a hug or a slap. Chain letter emails are not living beings and they are not magic. They can't physically do any more harm to anyone than an email you personally write.^{[3] X Research source}

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Doing this stops other people getting it and passing it on and it getting worse.^{[4] X Research source}

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Even if it is absolutely creepy, keep the mail and smash it. Write out all of the things wrong with it and make yourself laugh at the utter ridiculousness of the story and the threat attached. Keeping the message is also a good way of stopping a troublesome emailer: you tell someone (teacher, parent, friend, etc.) you have proof of getting this unwanted email. If convenient, ask anyone else who is definitely not creeped out by the chain letter for their ideas. If you get them to dissect and ridicule the story for the fake-creepy, absurd junk it is, you and probably them will end up having a good laugh over it. This completely turns the tables on whoever actually started the chain letter that creeped out the unthinking, easily scared people who got it before you did and passed it on. Being a chain-breaker is good and never killed anyone.

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The person that sent you the chain letter sent it because they either thought it was funny or were duped into sending it. If you know the person who sent you the email, let them know that the letter is fake and that they shouldn't send it to people.^{[5] X Research source}

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You can even report them to their internet service provider if they keep sending you unwanted email. The situation is getting out of hand. Tell the person you will block their address if they keep sending you this junk. Chain letters are against the terms of service of many ISPs - they are a type of spam.^{[6] X Research source}

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If the chain letter includes a threat, such as: "I will break into your house myself and (enter bad event) you!", it may be appropriate to inform an authority (police, principal, etc.). (see Warnings).^{[7] X Trustworthy Source WomensLaw.org Site associated with the National Network to End Domestic Violence aimed at providing free legal resources and aid to survivors of domestic violence. Go to source}

Warnings

If you want to reply back, you should think of the possibilities of how they will react. Make the decision carefully and decide how you'll handle it if they take your reply badly. If they scream at you for replying back, telling them the chain letter is junk and not worth getting creeped out over, then you're probably better off without them as a friend, and it's their fault for being such a dunce and choosing to believe a rubbish chain email over you who they were supposed to think of as their friend.

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Helpful 11 Not Helpful 0
Do not click on any links or open any enclosed files. Some hackers still use chain letters to spread malware.

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Don't tell the police unless the situation is dire or you feel very suspicious. Try to think it out before acting.

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