Burn Victim Alexandra of Poland
I received an E-mail this morning (attached below my message) that asked me to forward the email to others. Alexandra's parents will receive 3 cents for every forwarded message.
It is not the first time that I have received an E-mail like this one and I cannot help myself, but my detective mind has been turning over this issue the whole day.
Are these E-mails for real or is it a scam to get hold of E-mail addresses for spam? Does the parents really get 3 cents for every click? How do we know that this E-mail was not started by fraudsters? How does it work? How do they track it? How do we distinguish between real requests for help and fraudulent ones?
I would love to know the answer to these questions and I suspect many of you well meaning people out there would love to know too.
If you have any knowledge about these E-mails, please post a message in the comments section at the end of this blog.
And if you were wondering if I forwarded the E-mail....Yes, I did! I have a soft spot for children and I will keep on doing so until someone out there in the blogosphere lets me know that these E-mails are a scam.
Please let us know if you know anything about these E-mails, even if you just have limited information.
Love & Light
Victoria
"Dear All,
Alexandra came out of a rigging fire alive, but now has to fight for her life and a normal future. She is 14 months old and she has burnt skin all over her body, damage facial bones (as a result of very high temperature). She does not have half of her face. She is in hospital in Krakow - Poland and one of the best specialist is looking after her. However she still has to go through many surgeries and then long rehab. Unfortunately her parents do not have any more money.
Therefore we are asking for your help. For each forwarded email her parents will get 3 cents. Please help them and forward that email to as many people as you can".
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Forward E-mails to Assist Sick Children - Are they for real?
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4 comments:
Im over a year late - But I have just received this email and can confirm that this and all others like it are a hoax! There is no way of tracking forwarded emails in this way for purposes of paying out money.
If the email actually intended to do good it would provide details on how to contact the charity / family to donate directly (the legitimate emails actually have these details).
Thanks for your comment. I cannot agree more. Any charity donations should be transparent.
Victoria
How can we find out where this hospital is or the appropriate way to donate? Thanks to the internet, it truly is the world wide web!
Dear Anonymous,
I found the following information on a website (http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_ola_kuczma.htm)
"Sadly, this hoax is based on a real-life tragedy, a June 2005 house fire in southern Poland that destroyed the home of Peter and Anna Kuczma and left their 14-month-old daughter, Aleksandra ("Alexandra" or "Olenka" or "Ola") Kuczma seriously burned and fighting for her life in a hospital burn ward.
All available media coverage of the incident is in Polish, unfortunately, though it is briefly described in English on Filip Gralinski's "Chain Letter Gallery" Web site. As best I can make out, Ola is on the road to recovery but will require more surgery, and her parents have requested help from the public to meet the medical expenses. More information is available on the Polish TV Web site (but again, it is in Polish)."
"What qualifies the email as a hoax is the false claim that for every time it is forwarded, Ola Kuczma's parents will receive 3 cents. Impossible. Any number of "ailing child" charity hoaxes dating back to 1997 have employed this same fanciful premise, which is based on nonexistent technology."
Bless you for wanting to donate to the hospital or the family.
Please let us know if you manage to track the real burn victim in Poland down.
Victoria
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