One of the best places I know to immediately discredit suspicious email claims is a website called Snopes.com (click HERE).

What is snopes.com?

Snopes.com has a very large collection of known hoax messages and urban legends. If you want to know, or want to help somebody figure out the authenticity of a suspicious message - maybe one that sounds credible, but could be leading people to do risky things - check here first.

Recent popular hoax subject lines include:

- McCain dies of heart attack

- Amazing speech by Obama

- Barak Obama in danger - McCain fights for president post

Dangerous greeting card email messages

There are many greeting card emails that contain Trojan Horse viruses. I've warned about these before. But Snopes.com has a pretty comprehensive list.

Don't be fooled into wasting time, or worse, relaxing your security practices - by following a dire warning from an email message, no matter who it's from. Check it out at Snopes.com first. Then come here and let the Streetwise Security Zone community know if there is a new twist that Snopes hasn't covered.

CAUTION: Checking out Snopes.com can be addictive because you'll want to verify every potential urban legend you've ever heard of! This, in itself, can reduce productivity.