by Bruce P. Burrell (bpb@umich.edu
for the U-M Virus Busters (virus.busters@umich.edu)
Last significant update: 11 Sepember 1997
This information can be freely reproduced in any medium, as long as the information is unmodified.
05:40 PM ET 09/10/97U.S. attorneys general warn against Gerber hoax
NEW YORK (Reuter) - Consumers should not respond to a rumor that Gerber Baby Food will give them a $500 gift certificate if they send their children's birth certificate to a post office box, state authorities said Wednesday.
A spokesmen for the National Association of Attorneys General told Reuters the group has sent warnings to all states about the hoax.
Gerber Products Co., a unit of Sandoz AG, also said that the rumor is false.
"Gerber Products is not involved in any settlement involving reimbursements to consumers," the Fremont, Mich. company said. "Consumers are cautioned not to send birth records or other information in connection with the rumor."
Gerber said it did not know the source of the rumor.
The hoax, which appears to be a variation of a scheme that began last year, resurfaced in the last two weeks through electronic mail communications on the Internet.
The E-mail message, which was widely circulated, cites a non-existent news report that Gerber had recently lost a class action suit over ingredients in its products.
The message states that Gerber will now give every child born between 1985 and 1997 a $500 savings bond. To obtain the bond, consumers were told to send a copy of the child's birth certificate and social security card to a post office box in Minneapolis.
Social security numbers and other information can be used to obtain credit and bank cards.
Minnesota Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III is among state authorities who have issued press releases warning consumers about the hoax.
A spokesperson from his office was not immediately available to comment on whether consumers had sent information to the post office box and whether it was being used for criminal purposes.
If you receive such an email announcement, you should not forward it to others. Instead, you should reply to the sender -- and as far back up the email chain as you have energy -- informing the originators that this is a hoax. I suggest that you provide a pointer to this URL (http://www.umich.edu/~virus-busters/hoaxes/gerber.html) or to another reputable site, like DataFellows (leaving our site).
My thanks to my colleague Adam Wilkinson, who first brought this to my attention on 11 September 1997.
-BPB
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