snopes.com: Update #440 Hello again from snopes, where we shed light on the wild tales you've heard! This e-mail gives information about new articles recently added to the snopes.com web site and provides pointers to older pieces about rumors and hoaxes still wandering into everyone's inboxes. Our last update mailing was 31 October 2009. If after this update you are left wondering about something newly arrived in your inbox, our search engine stands ready to assist you. Bookmark that URL — it's a keeper! And now to the legends, the mayhem, and the misinformation!   New Articles Several restaurant chains are offering free meals to U.S. military personnel in conjunction with Veterans Day. Was ABC News' 20/20 co-anchor John Stossel fired for trying to air a piece critical of health care reform? What happened to the FOX News documentary on Barack Obama? Noah Biorkman, a 5-year-old boy battling cancer, wants to receive Christmas cards. Would a House bill require members of Congress to participate in a public health care plan? Photograph shows representatives playing solitaire on their laptop computers during a legislative session. Do influenza outbreaks of recent years correspond to Chinese astrological symbols? Photographs capture images of white-coated moose. E-mailed list offers tips for avoiding contracting the swine flu. Don't forget to visit our Daily Snopes page for a collection of odd news stories from around the world! Worth a Second Look Does a photograph show a tearful veteran embracing a wounded Marine? Still Haunting the Inbox Some rumors about snopes.com were debunked at FactCheck.org. Message promises consumers can receive free laptop computers from Ericsson for forwarding an e-mail to their friends. Postcard / Greeting Card virus. E-warning cautions that cell phone numbers are being sold to telemarketers. Claim that peeled onions placed about the home will fight off the flu virus. Does a government program provide free cell phones to welfare recipients? E-mail advises contacting police by calling #77 (or *677) on a cell phone. First Lady Michelle Obama has an unprecedented number of staffers working for her. Warning about cash back charges being surreptitiously placed on WalMart customers' credit cards. Message lists criticisms of Barack Obama noticed by the public. Warning about a password-stealing Facebook virus. Mail Server Report virus. E-mail petition #2493 from Dr. James Dobson protests proposed ban on religious broadcasting. Actor/writer Ben Stein's commentary on the observance of Christmas. Warning about thieves armed with "code grabbers" breaking into cars by recording signals sent from remote keyless entry devices. Warning about 'Osama Captured/Hanged' computer virus. Warnings about scammers' running up long-distance charges by asking victims to press #-9-0 on their telephones or luring phone users into returning calls to numbers within the 809 area code. Account of Irena Sendler's saving 2,500 Polish Jews from the Holocaust. Promotion promises free cash or merchandise for forwarding an e-mail message. Message from Vietnam vet claims Target stores do not support veterans. Claim that Rep. Nancy Pelosi regularly travels to California on a 200-seat jet. Claim that the ACLU is seeking to have cross-shaped headstones removed from federal cemeteries. Plea to help find missing girl Ashley Flores. Comedian Bill Cosby's purported platform as a write-in candidate. Fraud Afoot Seems like everyone has become the recipient of mysterious e-mails promising untold wealth if only one helps a wealthy foreigner quietly move millions of dollars out of his country. The venerable 419 Scam has discovered the goldmine that is the Internet. Beware: There's still no such thing as "something for nothing," and the contents of your bank account will end up with these wily foreigners if you fall in with this. Likewise, look out for mailings announcing you've won a foreign lottery you don't recall entering or claiming that because you share the surname of a wealthy person who died without leaving a will you're in line for a windfall inheritance. And be especially wary if, while trying to sell or rent anything online (car, boat, horse, motorcycle, painting, apartment, you name it) you're approached by a prospective buyer/renter who wants to pay with a cashier check made out for an amount in excess of the agreed-upon price and who asks the balance be sent to a third party. Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties or reship goods to them have been defrauded by con artists. Don't you be next. Admin Stuff View the latest edition of the snopes.com newsletter online. Please note that the e-mail address update@snopes.com is an administrative address used only for mailing weekly updates to subscribers. All mail sent to this address is automatically deleted. If you wish to change your subscription information or unsubscribe, please use the links provided at the bottom of every newsletter mailing. If you wish to find information on a particular topic, please use the search engine. Our What's New page and our 25 Hottest Urban Legends page are also handy places to check whenever you receive something questionable in your inbox. Other inquiries and comments may be submitted through the "Contact Us" form at snopes.com. Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.