This hoax is a variation of the Windows email tracking hoax circulated for the last couple of years and I'm sure we will see it for many years to come in different wrappings..
For those of you who are not familiar with this, this hoax asked the receiver to send an email (or several) to a friend and for every email tracked they would get a prize or money from Bill Gates.
Although the thought of Bill Gates giving away anything is ridiculous, believe it or not, this hoax circulated the Internet several times.
The new version has the clothing store, the Gap, doing the email tracking with the (non existant) email tracking code in Windows 95 and 98 (you know... the same code Bill Gates tracked email with - what the heck!).
Like all of these Internet hoaxes, it's easy to unravel. First and foremost, why would a clothing company be interested in tracking personal email? Secondly, with whom did Abercrombie and Fitch merge? And finally would sending emails to friends prove any loyalty when a prize was promised?
Here is the story you might receive:Abercrombie & Fitch have recently merged to form the largest hottie outfitter company in the world! In an effort to remain at pace with this giant, the GAP has introduced a new email tracking system to determine who has the most loyal followers.
This email is a beta test of the new clothing line and GAP has generously offered to compensate those who participate in the testing process. For each person you send this e-mail to, you will be given a pair of cargo pants. For every person they give it to, you will be given an additional Hawaiian print T-shirt, for every person they send it to, you will recieve a fishermans hat! GAP will tally all the emails produced under your name over a two week period and then email you with more instructions.
This beta test is only for Microsoft Windows users because the email tracking device that contacts GAP is embedded into the code of Windows 95 and 98. If you wish to speed up the "clothes receiving process" then you can email the GAP's P.R. rep for a free list of email addresses to try, at...."gollygap@yahoo.com"
(this was forwarded to me, it's not me saying this...)
I know you guys hate forwards, but I started this a month ago because I was naked and couldn't get a date.
A week ago, I got an email from the GAP asking me for my address I gave it to them yesterday and I got a box load of mechandise in the mail from the GAP!!!!! It really works! I wanted you to get a piece of the action, you won't regret it!
This one, I would guess, was generated by a kid. Kids would consider 'cool pants' from The Gap a fantastic prize. But the funniest thing in this hoax is the misspelling of the word, "receive", which the originator of the hoax spelled "recieve" (forgetting the old saw "i before e except after c". (Do students still learn that one anymore or am I showing my age?)
And those who follow the instructions of this email will receive nothing more than a few annoyed reactions from those who have been sent the hoax.
Most of the things floating around the Web are hoaxes. There are many sites where you can check out weird or scary e-mails. Here are three:
Recently someone who found out something they sent was a hoax commented "like we have so much spare time to mess with these!". That's it in a nutshell. Hoax forwards are a waste of time for everyone. And the reason the same ones keep coming back to haunt us is that people don't research forwards before sending them out. With forwards, a good rule of thumb may be, if in doubt, don't send.
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