Scare Chains
Scare Chains are a special class of Urban Legend that purport to be warnings for the ladies. They tell terrible stories about people (usually women and children) who are out and about and who have something awful happen to them. While the stories tend to give good advise, the actual events depicted in them are usually made-up or based on something that happened years ago. They certainly do not depict a current event. Consider, if any of these things happened recently, you would be reading about it in your local newspaper or seeing it on the TV news.
Bad Guy in the Backseat  Bad Guy Selling Perfume  Bad Guy Changing A Tire  Female Abductions Warnings	Slave-Master Warning  Stay Out of the Mall on Halloween Warning  Missing Trucks Warning  Arabians Buying Candy Warning  Poison Perfume Warning  Don't Drink Coke Warning  Don't Drink Pepsi Warning  Naked Women in the Mall Warning

Bad Guy in the Backseat

This one says a bad guy is hiding under your car or in the back seat and is just waiting to 
haul you away. Sounds like the plot of a slasher movie. As far as we can tell, this never 
happened (except in the movies). While the list of things to do when getting in your car 
are not unreasonable, sending this warning on is. 

                IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR SAFETY-PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ.

A friend stopped at a pay-at-the-pump gas station to get gas.
Once she filled her gas tank after paying at the pump and started to leave
the attendant inside came over the speaker. He told her that something
happened with her card and that she needed to come inside to pay.
The lady was confused because the transaction showed complete and
approved.  She told him that and was getting ready to leave but the
attendant
once again urged her to come in to pay or else. She proceeded to go inside
and started arguing with the attendant about his threat. He told her to calm
down and listen carefully: He told her that while she was pumping gas, a
guy slipped into the back seat of her car on the other side and he had
called the police. She immediately became scared and looked out there in
time to see her car door open and the guy slip out.

The report is that the new gang initiation thing is to bring back a
woman's body part. One way they are doing this is crawling under
girls/women's cars while they're pumping gas or at grocery stores
in the night time. Then they are cutting the lady's ankles to disable
them in order to kidnap them, kill and dismember them. The other way is
slipping into unattended cars and kidnapping the women to kill
and dismember them.

Please pass this on to other women, young and old alike. Be extra careful
going to and from your car at night. If at all possible,don't go alone!

This is real!! The message:

1. ALWAYS lock your car doors, even if you're gone for just a second.
2. Check underneath your car when approaching it for re-entry,
and check in the back before getting in.
3. Always be aware of your surroundings and other individuals
in your general vicinity, particularly at night!

Send this to as many as possible so your friend will not be the next one.

Bad Guy Selling Perfume

This one says a bad guy is selling purfume which is actually ether and they are going to haul 
you away when you pass out. Sounds like the plot of another slasher movie. The problems with 
it are that simply taking a sniff of ether or chloroform will not knock you out. That only happens 
in the movies. You must breath them through a saturated rag for several seconds before you 
start to go under. So, as long as you don't stick the perfume bottle up your nose and snort the 
liquid up into your sinuses, you are not going to be knocked out. Again, don't send this on. 

Subject: Beware of someone asking you about perfume. Some of you got this 
email (see below) some weeks ago like me. I just wanted to pass this along. 

I was approached yesterday afternoon at around 3:30 pm in the Walmart 
(Mililani) parking lot by 2 males asking what kind of perfume I was 
wearing. I didn't stop to answer them and kept walking toward the store. 

At the same time I remembered this email. The men continued to stand 
between parked cars-I guess to wait on someone else to hit on. I stopped a 
lady walking toward them, pointed at them, and told her what they might ask 
and NOT to let them get near her. When that happened, the men and a lady (I 
don't know where she came from!) started walking the other way toward their 
car parked in far corner of the parking lot. 

I WAS SENT AN E-MAIL AT WORK ABOUT SOMEONE WALKING UP TO YOU IN A MALL OR 
PARKING LOT AND ASKING YOU TO SNIFF PERFUME THEY ARE SELLING AT A CHEAP 
PRICE. THIS ISN'T REALLY PERFUME BUT ETHER, AND YOU WILL PASS OUT AND THEY 
TAKE YOUR WALLET AND ALL YOUR VALUABLES.  THIS IS NOT A PRANK E-MAIL, THIS 

IS TRUE BECAUSE I WAS STOPPED IN GOVERNORS SQUARE PARKING LOT TODAY. 

A MAROON CAR PULLED UP TO ME WITH TWO FEMALES. THE FEMALE ON THE 
PASSENGER SIDE ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOW AND ASKED ME IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED 
IN "SNIFFING" SOME PERFUME THEY WERE SELLING.  I REMEMBERED THE E-MAIL I 
JUST RECEIVED YESTERDAY, AND SAID NO.  SHE ASKED ME A SECOND TIME, I KEPT 
ON WALKING SAID NO ONCE AGAIN AND THEY PULLED OFF. 

IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE E-MAIL, I VERY WELL MAY HAVE DONE IT. PLEASE PASS 
THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND TELL THEM TO BEWARE. THIS IS TRUE!!  IF IT 
WEREN'T FOR THE E-MAIL I GOT YESTERDAY, I COULD VERY WELL MAY HAVE BEEN A 
VICTIM. REMEMBER TO PASS THIS ON!!!!! 

Subject: please read this!! 


I think this is pretty important to pass along. I was approached 
yesterday afternoon around 3:30pm in the Wal-Mart parking lot , by two 
males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I'd 
like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a 
very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an 
email some weeks ago, warning of a "wanna smell this neat perfume?" scam. 
The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for 
someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointed at 
them, and told her about how I was sent an e-mail about someone walking 
up to you at the malls or in parking lots, and asking you to SNIFF 
PERFUME that they are selling at a cheap price. 

THIS IS NOT PERFUME - IT IS ETHER! 

When you sniff it, you'll pass out. And they'll take your wallet, your 
valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this e-mail, I 
probably would have sniffed the "perfume" But thanks to the generosity 
of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. 
I wanted to do the same for you. 

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS, AND PLEASE BE ALERT, 
AND AWARE!! IF YOU ARE A MAN AND RECEIVE THIS PASS IT ON TO YOUR WOMEN 
FRIENDS! 

BAd Guy Changing A Tire

This one fans people's fear of strangers. I've helped people change tires, jump started dead 
batteries, and given away gallons of gas to strangers in need. I even gave away the shoes off 
my feet but that is another story (all true, I swear, send it to all yor friends). I would hate to 
think that people would stop doing good deeds just because someone might think they were 
monsters. Yes, there are monsters out there so you must judge each situation on its own 
circumstances and not on some chain letter. 

The letter ends with "Better safe than sorry." But, can you imagine living in a nice safe world 
where no one trusts anyone else, no one is willing to help a stranger or be helped by a stranger 
when they are in need? 

I'm sending this one out to all of you ladies to keep you in the know,
and to remind you to be safe when you're out & about.

This is scary!!!!  Men, if you open this, please make sure the ladies in your
life are informed.  This happened in Toronto but it could happen anywhere.
This just gives me the creeps!

About a month ago there was a woman standing by the mall entrance
passing out flyers to all the women going in.  The woman had written the flyer
herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other
women.

The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and
discovered that she had a flat.  She got the jack out of the trunk and began
to change the flat.  A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase 
walked up to her and said, "I noticed you're changing a flat tire.  Would 
you like me to take are of it for you?"

The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help.
They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the
flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off.  The
woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, the man 
told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked
if she would mind giving him a lift to his car.

She was a little surprised and she asked him why his car was on other
side. He explained that he had seen an old friend in the mall that he hadn't
seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while; he
got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he
was running late and his car was clear around on the other side of the
mall.

The woman hated to tell him "no" because he had just rescued her from
having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy.  Then
she remembered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before
shutting it and before he asked her for a ride to his car.

She told him that she'd be happy to drive him around to his car, but she
just remembered one last thing she needed to buy.  She said she would only 
be a few minutes; he could sit down in her car and wait for her; she would 
be as quick as she could be. She hurried into the mall, and told a security 
guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man 
had left. They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it 
down to the police station. The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID 
so they could return it to the man).

What they found was rope, duct tape, and knives.  When the police
checked her "flat" tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had 
simply been let out.  It was obvious what the man's intention was, and obvious 
that he had carefully thought it out in advance.  The woman was blessed to have

escaped harm.  How much worse it would have been if she had children with her
and had them wait in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a
baby strapped into a car seat.  Or if she'd gone against her judgment and
given him a lift.

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know.
It may save a life.  A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle.

I was going to send this to the ladies only; but guys, if you love
your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on
to them, as well.  Send this to any woman you know that may need to be
reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it....better 
safe than sorry.

PLEASE BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY!  JUST A WARNING TO ALWAYS BE ALERT AND
USE YOUR  HEAD!!!  Pass this along to every woman you have access to.
Never let your guard down.

SOMETIMES, THAT FEELING IN YOUR GUT IS THE VOICE OF GOD.  TRUST YOUR
INSTINCTS!!

Female Abductions Warnings

This warning looks strangely similar to the one above, except that the mall involved is now in 
Columbus instead of Toronto. As stated in the warning, Inside Edition did, on August 8, 1998, 
do a story on the possibility of abducting women from malls, not on real abductions. The hoax 
writer took the could be and changed it to are to create this hoax message. The snopes site
has a very good analysis of this message including a copy of the Inside Edition story. 

Make sure you read the entire thing. Towards the end is really important!!!!! 

The notice below was posted on JCPenney's e-mail this morning to all 
female associates. I wanted to pass the information on to you: 

Recently on "Inside Edition" there was an article about several new 
scams to abduct women. 

In one, a man comes up to a woman in a mall or shopping center and 
asks if she likes pizza. When she says she does, he offers her $10,000 to 
shoot a commercial for pizza, but they need to go outside where the 
lighting is better. When the woman goes out of the mall she is abducted and 
assaulted. 

Another ploy is a very nicely dressed man asks a woman if she would be in a 
public service announcement to discourage drug use. The man explains that 
they don't want professional actors or celebrities; they want the average 
mother t! o ! do this. Once she leaves the mall she is a victim. 

The third ploy, the most successful, a frantic man comes running in to the 
mall and asks a woman to please help him, his baby is not breathing. She runs 
out of the mall following him and also becomes a victim. 

These have been happening in well-lit parking areas, in daylight as well as 
nighttime, all over the country. The abductor usually uses a van to abduct 
the woman. 

"Inside Edition" set up a test in a mall and 10 out of 15 women went out of 
the mall on the pizza and the PSA scam. And all of them went out of the mall 
on the baby scam. Please pass this along to your friends and family as now 
that it has been shown on Nationwide TV there are bound to be copycats of 
this. The third one, I think, is the scariest. You might resist 
pizza or becoming a commercial celebrity...but who would be able to 
resist a frantic father asking for help for his child? I'm sure that! o! ne 
would get me. 

A woman was shopping at the Tuttle Mall in Columbus. She came out to 
her car and saw she had a flat. She got her jack and spare out of the 
trunk. A man in a business suit came up and started to help her. When the 
tire had been replaced, he asked for a ride to his car on the opposite side 
of the mall. Feeling uncomfortable about doing this, she stalled for a while, 
but 
he kept pressing her. She finally asked why he was on this side of the mall 
if his car was on the other. He claimed he had been talking to friends. Still 
uncomfortable, she told him that she had just remembered something she 

had forgotten to pick up at the mall and she left him and went back inside 
the mall. She reported the incident to the mall security and they went out to 
her car. The man was nowhere in sight. Opening her trunk, she discovered a 
briefcase the man had set inside her trunk while helping her with the tire. 
Insi! de! were rope and a butcher knife. And, when she took the tire to be 
fixed, the mechanic informed her that there was nothing wrong with her tire, 
that it was flat because the air had been let out of it. 

I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your 
mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, 
as well. Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that 
the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it....better safe than sorry. 

PLEASE BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY! JUST A WARNING TO ALWAYS BE ALERT 
AND USE YOUR HEAD!!! 

Pass this along to every woman you have access to. Never let your 
guard down. 

SOMETIMES THAT FEELING IN YOUR GUT IS THE VOICE OF GOD. 
TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!! 

Slavemaster Warning

The Slavemaster warning has been around for a couple of years though with different screen 
names for the bad guy. This warning was based partly in fact on a Kansas man who was linked 
to the murder of women he met over the Internet. However, he has been in jail since June of 2000
so these warnings are totally out of date and of no value.

A common rule for dealing with unknown people online is that you don't give out personal 
information such as your address. If a bad guy does not know where you live, it is unlikely that 
he can find you. 

State Police Warning!!!!!! Serious 
 
This is something I received from the MD State Police 
Please read this "very carefully"...then send it
out to all the people online that you know. 
Something like this is nothing to take casually;
this is something you DO want to pay attention to. 
Think of it as a bit of advice too. 

If a person with the screen-name of Slavemaster 
contacts you, do not reply. Do not talk to this person; 
do not answer any of his/her instant Messages or e-mail. 
Whoever this person may be, he/she is a suspect for murder 
in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted through the
Internet. 
 
Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and ask 
them to pass this on, as well. 

This screen-name was seen on Yahoo, AOL, and Excite, so far. 
 
This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...they can tell 
their loved ones, just in case! Send to every one you know! 
Ladies, this is serious. Cut and paste this from its long 
forward list. Please check and make sure to forward. 

PLEASE YOU GUYS, READ THIS "VERY CAREFULLY".......
THEN SEND IT OUT TO ALL THE PEOPLE ONLINE THAT YOU KNOW.
SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS NOTHING TO TAKE
CASUALLY;THIS IS SOMETHING YOU "DO" WANT TO PAY
ATTENTION TO. THINK OF IT AS "BIG BROTHER" SENDING YOU A
WARNING............
If a guy with the screen-name of ...
SlaveMaster
Slavemaster7
slavesasstter
slavemasters4454
slavemaster551
slavemaster7234
slavemaster7235
slavemaster7236
slavemaster89
slavemaster9182
OR
slavemasters957
----- contacts you.........do not answer. DO NOT TALK TO
THIS PERSON, DO NOT ANSWER ANY OF HIS/HER INSTANT
MESSAGES/E-MAIL. He has killed 56 women (so far) that he has talked
to on the Internet.
PLEASE SEND OUT TO ALL THE WOMEN ON YOUR BUDDY LIST! .
ALSO ASK THEM TO PASS THIS ON.
He has been on Yahoo and AOL and Excite so far.
This is no JOKE.!!!
PLEASE SEND THIS TO MEN TOO.......JUST IN CASE!!!
Send to EVERY ONE YOU KNOW!!
LADIES, THIS IS SERIOUS. CUT AND PASTE THIS FROM IT'S LONG
FORWARD LIST. PLEASE
CHECK CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE TO FORWARD TO ANYONE
I HAVE NOT INCLUDED ON MY LIST.

Stay Out of the Mall on Halloween Warning

Talk about an hystericane (a term invented by Rob Rosenberger on the VMyths website), 
on October 11, this particular hoax went completely out of control. My inbox was so full I 
couldn't download any more mail. However, our security department checked with the FBI 
and they said they had investigated this message and found it was a hoax. It never happened 
so please stop sending it around! 

This hoax uses one of the more classic tricks to make it appear authentic. It claims to predict 
two events, the first of which has happened. The trick is that since the first event has happened, 
you will believe that the second is going to happen also. Of course, the hoax was written after 
the first event occurred, making it very simple to make an accurate "prediction." 

Don't send it on, put it in the trash. Better yet, go to the mall, or don't go to the mall and then my 
kids and I will have the whole place to ourselves on Halloween. 

Hi All - 
 
I think you all know that I don't send out hoaxes and don't do the
reactionary thing and send out just anything that crosses my path. This
one, however, is a friend of a friend and I've given it enough credibility 
in my mind that I'm writing it up and sending it out to all of you. 
My friend's friend was dating a guy from Afghanistan up until a month
ago. She had a date with him around 9/6 and was stood up. She was
understandably upset and went to his home to find it completely
emptied. On 9/10, she received a letter from her boyfriend explaining that 
he wished he could tell her why he had left and that he was sorry it had 
to be like that. The part worth mentioning is that he BEGGED her not to
get on any commercial airlines on 9/11 and to not to go to any malls on
Halloween. As soon as everything happened on the 11th, she called the
FBI and has since turned over the letter.
 
This is not an email that I've received and decided to pass on. This
came from a phone conversation with a long-time friend of mine last
night.  I may be wrong, and I hope I am. However, with one of his warnings
being correct and devastating, I'm not willing to take the chance on the
second and wanted to make sure that people I cared about had the same
information that I did.
 
Laura Katsis 
Implementation Specialist
714/921-5424 
lkatsis@volt.com 
OpsVolt_Track@volt.com 

Missing Trucks Warning

The following warning has been making the rounds for the last three weeks and there has 
been no official announcement from any government organization about missing trucks. 
ABC News fact checked the message with the truck rental companies and found that there 
are no known missing trucks as did the Washington Post.

U-Haul has made the following public statement concerning the hoax message.

PHOENIX (Oct. 17) -- There is no legitimacy to an e-mail circulating that 
alleges more than 30 trucks from different companies including U-Haul have been 
stolen for terrorist activities. U-Haul has no missing or stolen equipment 
related to terrorist activities. 

Hey everybody, 
Sorry for the mass email, but I got important news tonight. My dad 
works for FEMA and he's really involved with the goings on in NYC. He told 
me that within the last 24 hours, more than 30 Ryder, U-Haul, and Verizon 
trucks have been reported stolen across the country. The U-Haul and 
Ryder trucks were rented and then never returned, so they're considered stolen. 
Many of them were rented by people of Arab descent. I don't mean to 
make any assumptions, and I certainly don't want to scare you, but I 
thought you all might like to know. Be wary of these vehicles, pay 
attention to them, and don't walk or park near them. He said to stay out of 
major public places if at all possible (Crossgates, the Pepsi, downtown Albany, 
etc.) because recreational sites would most likely be hit on weekends. I'm 
sorry to cause alarm, but he told me it was ok to share this information. 
If you'd like to forward it to anyone you know, feel free, as there is a 
possibility it might save lives. I hope everyone is doing well, and give 
those you love an extra hug. 

Arabians Buying Candy Warning

Now the bad guys are after our children. However, if you call the Costco in Wayne, NJ, 
they will tell you that this never happened. Don't pass it on and have a happy Halloween. 

Since I put up this warning, additional information has come available that appears to point to 
the source of the hoax message. According to an Associated Press story, a man did buy a 
lot of candy which worried a store manager. The FBI checked him out and found that he was 
a candy wholesaler, buying candy to resell to other stores. They are holding him, but that is 
because of unrelated immigration violations they discovered when checking out the candy 
purchase. 

It's important to be wise & cautious during this time.... please share with
everyone you know, especially those who have children


LADIES, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE, PLEASE BE CARE AND MAKE SURE THIS MESSAGE GETS
TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND LOVE.
Yesterday, two Arabians went into the Costco in Wayne, NJ and bought five
thousand $ worth of candy. So costco called the cops and told them. The FBI
caught one of the Arabians and the other one got away with the candy. The
Arabic that got caught was illegally in the country and the FBI thinks the
candy is a way to spread the Anthrax virus. send this to 15 people to help
protect the country and our kids who will be trick or treating on October
31st.

Poison Perfume Warning

Someone must be tired of all the free samples you get in the mail. Some copies of this 
hoax contain a name and contact information for a person at the Harris County Attorney's office. 
We have contacted that office and they say it is a hoax. We suspect that the person either 
forwarded the warning and got her signature attached to it or someone simply put her name 
on the message to make it appear legitimate. 

Another variant has the message coming from the "JHU Office of Communications & Public 
Affairs" (JHU = Johns Hopkins University). We have heard from the executive director of 
communications and public affairs at The Johns Hopkins University and he said, "This 
message was not issued by my office nor has my office in any way authorized it or any 
message like it."

We can find no evidence of anyone dieing or even getting sick after sniffing a free sample 
of perfume. Since September 11, the government has been careful to warn people 
whenever they have a credible threat and I can't see any advantage in hiding a threat 
like this so as to not panic people. The government has issued statements about how 
to detect and handle suspicious packages and you should always be careful when you 
receive unexpected gifts in the mail. We believe this warning is just another variant of 
the Bad Guy Selling Perfume hoax. 

Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume 
sample that was mailed to them. The product was
poisonous. If you receive free samples in
the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc.
throw them away .

The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act.
They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to
create panic or give the terrorists new ideas.

Send this to all your friends and family members.

Don't Drink Coke Warning

Here is another one in the same vein as the Stay Out of the Malls on Halloween hoax. 

I don't know how true this is, but I'm not taking any chances. 

Someone I know told me that a friend of her mothers did a "good samaritan" 
act for someone in a store.  The man, who she believes may have been 
Pakistani, approched her in the parking lot saying he wanted to return 
the kindness.  He warned her to not to buy any Coke products after 6/5/02.  

Don't Drink Pepsi Warning

The Don't Drink Coke Warning has grown over the last few months. Now it is Pepsi you are 
supposed to stay away from. The writer knows it is true because her mother's, repairman's, 
girlfriend passed it on. Nothing like first-hand information. This one even includes a name 
and address, which is probably for someone the actual writer does not like.

I dont know how I feel about this, but I figure  better safe than sorry.
This was posted on a Britney website, but it's  making the rumor rounds.
Please just read it and take it as you  will.  Thanks.

Rumor: Pepsi Warning

Ruben,
    Please read this letter.  This really doesn't have anything to do
with Britney Spears.  I'm wondering if you can do the fans  and probably
the fans friends who spread the word across America a  favor.  Post this
letter I'm writing you or a warning on the  website because so many people 
go visit this site everyday. What this is about is a terrorist attack on 
the United States. 

Let me explain. A woman was in a grocery store in St.Louis MO over
the past weekend and she was in line waiting to check out. The man in front
of her that was checking out was Arabic and he was dressed very Arabic also
with the long veil and  everything.  He came up 5 dollars short so the woman
offered the  cashier 5 dollars to cover the rest of his groceries. He
thanked  her and walked out.  When she was done checking out her groceries
she walked to the parking lot and he was waiting for her. He told  her thank
you, she was the first person that had been nice to him  since Sept 11.
Since she had done him a favor he was going to do her a  favor in return. He
told her not to drink any Pepsi products that  were dated after august 6th.
There was going to be arsenic poison or  something else in them.  He then
vanished and she went home and  contacted the FBI, who can not find the man
she spoke with anywhere, however they are investigating the Pepsi story.

The problem is they  don't know which Pepsi plants are going to be used in

this scheme and it  may be too late before they find out. This makes since
because they found a video tape of Osama Bin Laden saying that the next
attack on America would effect the whole nation. This would be the perfect
way to do it.  This is in no way a slam against Britney Spears for promoting
Pepsi or a slam against Pepsi itself. I just want America to be on alert.
Or at least as! much of it as we can alert as possible. 

You're probably thinking this is fake but trust me it's not. The woman in 
the store is the girlfriend of a man who is doing the siding on my house 
right now in St.Charles MO.  He told my Mom this story this morning and 
asked us to warn people. Please put up something on your website warning  
people about this terrible thing that could happen. You know how  many 
people visit your site daily and how many lives this could  save.  If you 
don't think this is for real you can contact me at xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com or 
you can call me  at xxx-xxx-xxx.  My name is Chandra xxxxx.  

Thank you for your time.

I don't know if this is true or not, don't wanna say  it's not, but if it
is and I didn't put it up I don't want to have to  live with myself thinking
I could have done at least something to warn  at least some people.
But....I don't know, it's just an update. If it's  a prank, then let it be a
prank, but stuff like this, whether jokes or  not should be taken pretty
seriously, especially stuff like this. God  Bless...

Naked Women in the Mall Warning

October 2002

This one has been going around since the middle of the summer. If this really happened, don't you think the story would have been on every network and every newspaper, especially if it was occuring "with amazing regularity"?

Subject: FW: New Mall Crime
From the AP news wire.

Don't be surprised to see a naked woman walking out of a shopping mall
restroom: The latest scam being perpetrated in our nations shopping malls
is not the cost of gourmet ice cream cones or Harry Potter collectible
figurines. With what is being called amazing regularity, victims of this
new crime wave have been found walking out of shopping mall restrooms
completely naked. This has almost always been done by men to women, with a
few exceptions. The way the scam works is, a man slips into a women's
restroom and sneaks into a stall. He waits until there is only one woman in
the restroom in a neighboring stall. The criminal then stands on the toilet
and points a hand gun into the next stall, demanding the woman's valuables.
After getting her cash and jewelry, he demands that she remove all of her
clothing and kick them out of the stall. The thief tosses the clothing into
a shopping bag, hangs an out of order sign on the restroom door, and slips
back into the mall. The out of order sign ensures no one will soon come to
the woman's rescue. It usually takes an hour or two for the woman to work up
the nerve to leave the restroom in the nude, giving the criminal ample time
to make his get away. The woman is left naked and humiliated in a mall full
of strangers.

The best defense, say police, is to never go into a shopping mall restroom
alone, as only women who are by themselves are targeted.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. This has so far been a nearly
perfect crime, as none of the perpetrators have been caught. Don't let
this happen to another woman.