Free flights from BA, cash from Bill Gates – and other e-mail hoaxes

"When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it," reads the top e-mail hoax. "For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245."

A similar hoax, popular in the UK, is currently in 10th place overall:

Subject: FREE flight
I thought this was bollocks, but they got back to me within a week!!!!!!!! I contacted the London BA office - THIS IS REAL!!!!!!

Due to the SARS and the recent war in Iraq, the number of passengers flying world-wide has fallen dramatically. We at British Airways have launched an international media campaign which aims to fill our aircraft once again. A part of this campaign is direct email advertising.

This is where YOU come in!

British Airways, along with Microsoft are tracking this email, and for every 5 people you forward this to, you will receive a flight to London return from any destination in the world (if your in the UK, you can fly to any Asian destination return). Send this email to 10 people and you are eligible to fly ANYWHERE in the world return to your depature point!

Of course, the e-mail is just nonsense. But like the others, it has managed to fool plenty of internet users into circulating it among friends and family.

In 2nd place is the Hotmail hoax which encourages recipients to forward the e-mail to 10 others. It carries a threat: "If you don't forward this on within 48 hours of reading it, your account will be deactivated momentarily until you contact Hotmail Headquarters."

The JDBGMBR.EXE hoax – in 3rd place - is a virus hoax. It tells the user to delete a file on their computer because it is "a previously unknown virus". Of course, there is no virus, and the file it refers to is a genuine file in the Windows operating system and should not be deleted.

Another of the popular hoaxes is the Bonsai Kittens e-mail – in 5th place - which asks recipients to forward the e-mail and add their address in protest against the sale of kittens that are raised in bottles and fed with bone-softening chemicals so that they grow into the shape of the bottle.

It's based on a real web site – www.bonsaikitten.com – which, while arguably in poor taste, does not harm real kittens.