How to verify a fact you read in an email
Westlaw - look at the database called "All News from Dow Jones Interactive (ALLNEWS)" – a database of newswires, magazines, and newspapers – including the Wall Street Journal.
Lexis - look at the database called "News Group File All" – a database of newswires, magazines, and newspapers – including The New York Times.
Urban Legends Reference Pages - includes citations to articles which verify or debunk email stories, computer virus warnings, and urban legends. This resource has information about the story of Clinton firing cattle guards.
AFU & Urban Legends Archive - an extensive collection of urban legends, searchable by subject.
Truth or Fiction - advertised as a reality check for e-rumors, viruses, and internet hoaxes. It includes a helpful section on political e-rumors.
Hoaxbusters - includes information about internet hoaxes, chain letters, and urban myths.
Museum of Hoaxes - an archive of historical hoaxes and a forum for users to trade information about particular hoaxes.
"Wetware viruses" are virus warnings that falsely tell readers that they need to protect against a virus, and that the best way to avoid the harms of a virus is to change the settings on their own computers. In reality these warnings are convincing readers to cripple their own computers. The virus is convincing you, the reader, to harm your own computer.
To protect against wetware viruses, always check virus-warning messages against commercial virus information libraries. McAfee and Symantec are two of the most reliable resources.