Very much off-topic

[GeoffP]

Post deleted

 

[Flyfisher]

It's always worth checking for additional information if you ever receive such emails:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jun/11/women.ukcrime?gusrc=rss&feed=technology
http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/26941/sec_id/26941

 

[GeoffP]

Thanks for the advice. I should have checked. How do I delete the post?

Geoff

 

[JoceAndChris]

You could ask the mods to delete the thread altogether; you can't delete it yourself.

Thanks for the genuine concern behind your thread though Geoff. It is worth being careful.

Some years ago now, as a student, my brother picked up a helpless female in Sheffield who was waving her arms in the middle of the road. She propositioned him (for a very cheap rate I might add), and when he showed no willingness she asked to be dropped off in a remote side street in a fairly rough part of the city. At that point a bunch of youths appeared and forced Clyde to empty out his pockets, which contained all of £3.50 I think. They then allowed him to drive off, much shaken but basically unharmed, thank god. From his description the police were easily able to identify the woman so then my poor brother had to go to court and watch her get some silly nominal sentence, which she was unable to do because she was a single mother. He then spent the rest of days in Sheffield in some fear of vengeance! (which never happened)

I think men are as much a target as women - but perhaps for less violent crime.

FF, what interesting articles.

 

[MdB]

The best place to check up on this sort of junk is here:
http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp

For example Flyfisher story 2: http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/carjack.asp

It is also worth having a look around the site as many of the stories are quite interesting (about 90% false though) and it gives you a feeling for what to be suspicious of.

 

[Flyfisher]

Bad things do happen of course, albeit rarely, but I do think society as a whole is becoming increasingly paranoid, which is not a healthy way of living. And now, it seems, we're all potential paedophiles unless we pay £65 to some Quango to get a certificate 'proving' we're not. What sort of message does that send out to children?

Some years ago I came across a woman in a broken-down car in one of the lanes near home. I stopped and asked if I could help or if she'd like a lift to the nearest garage. It was broad daylight but the 30-ish woman looked petrified, picked up her mobile phone and (without having had time to dial) pretended to be talking to someone and told me she had already called her husband and he would arrive any second. So I left her to it. I didn't realise I looked like a mad axe-murderer. But seriously, I did feel sorry for her, that she felt that any stranger would automatically be a threat.

My parents once had a young motorcyclist knock on the door who asked if he could use their telephone (this was about 30 years ago, so well before mobiles). He was a student on his way back home but had broken down and needed to call the AA/RAC/whoever. They duly arrived to check the motocycle but concluded it had to be fixed in a garage. My parents fed him, let him stay overnight and drove him to the garage to collect his repaired motorcycle the following day. Coincidentally, I was also a motorcycle-riding student away from home at the time and, as my mother later explained, she was only doing what she'd hope anyone else would do for me if I found myself in the same predicament.

I'd like to think the same thing could happen today, but it does make one wonder.

 

[Penners]

Sadly, the internet is populated by almost as many hoaxes as it is viruses and other genuine nasties. We've all had the round-robin emails that warn of the impending arrival of some email that will "burn your entire hard drive", and similar rubbish.

MdB has already mentioned Snopes. Hoax-Slayer is also passably good.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/

And if you get a round-robin warning of an impending virus that mentions the virus's name, try searching for that name on the Sophos website. If it's a genuine virus you'll get reliable information on it, and if it's a well-know hoax you'll usually get a report on that, too.

http://www.sophos.com/

 

[FamilyWiggs]

We've all had the round-robin emails

And if you get a round-robin warning

Look, I know I put on a couple of pounds on holiday, but do we need to keep bringing it up? :twisted:

 

[Schoolmarm]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[wobs]

Another good site for this is Break the Chain, which not only lists many hoaxes and myths, but explains why forwarding such hoaxes "just in case" is a bad idea. See the articles in link:
http://www.breakthechain.org/library.html

I think men are as much a target as women - but perhaps for less violent crime.

Men are actually more likely to be a victim of violent crime than women.
A study in Australia looked at a large sample of people (not just police reports).
http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/A14E86B98435CC54CA2571C50074B17C/$File/4906055003_2005.pdf
See page 20.
Numbers vary depending upon which study you look at obviously, but the trend is inescapeable.

The ABS Safety Survey found 5.8% of females and 10.8% of males, 15 years plus, are subjected to threat of, attempt or alleged physical and sexual abuse each year. A proportion of each is attributable to family/relationship violence.

Or here in the UK:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/crime-justice/crime/victims-of-crime/index.html