Okay people, I’m sick of it… If you receive an email that says MSN is going to close if you don’t send it to everyone on your contacts list than it’s a fake, a hoax, a chain email, a lie!

Here’s an email I received:

Hey Pplz, Sorry to break the news, but looks like all of those warnings were real! The use of MSN and e-mail will cost money from Summer 2009 onwards. If you Send this message to 18 different people from your list, your little MSN Icon will turn blue and that will make it free for you. If you don’t believe Me, go on to (www.msn.com) and see it yourself. Don’t forward this message, But copy and paste it so that people will actually read it. It is Andy and John - the directors of MSN - sorry for the interruption, but MSN is really closing down. This is because too many inconsiderate people Are taking up all the names (e.g.. Making up lots of different accounts for Just one person), and we are only left with 578 names. If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND THIS MESSAGE ON. But, If you would like to keep your account, then SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. This is no joke, as we Will be shutting down the Servers. Send it on, thanks. WHOEVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSEAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED AND IT WILL COST YOU 100.00 (pending) A MONTH TO USE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS OR REPLAY. COPY THE WHOLE E-MAIL. RETURN TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. THEN PASTE IT INTO A NEW MESSAGE AND SEND IT TO EVERYONE IN YOUR LIST!

So, let’s break this message down line by line…

Hey Pplz, Sorry to break the news, but looks like all of those warnings were real! The use of MSN and e-mail will cost money from Summer 2009 onwards.

Putting aside the grammar, which I’ll touch on later, the terminology is wrong. MSN stands for “The Microsoft Network” (MicroSoft Network) and is the umbrella name for a collection of websites including msn.com and local based affiliates (ninemsn etc). These services have always been free, and it would be a bad move if Microsoft were to ever start charging for it, as pretty much all the information available on these sites is also available elsewhere. Also, to suggest that the use of ‘e-mail’ will cost money in Summer ‘09 is a complete oversight of whoever wrote this thing. Email is an open protocol, adopted universally. Perhaps they were talking about Windows Live Hotmail. You can charge for Hotmail, but not for email; although that would be a stupid move. Also, it might be good to note the date: Summer 2009. If we are to assume that this has originated from Microsoft and the Windows Live team, then I have some bad news for you all. It’s already happened! Before you start trying to convince me that Hotmail is closing, please do not choose a date in the past. I’m in the southern hemisphere, Microsoft isn’t.

If you Send this message to 18 different people from your list, your little MSN Icon will turn blue and that will make it free for you. If you don’t believe Me, go on to (www.msn.com) and see it yourself.

So, are we all to assume that Microsoft is tracking everyone’s email, and if they aren’t – how would they know if you’ve sent this to 18 people? Also, let’s take a look at the ‘msn icon’:

If we send this to 18 people, will it look like this?

And if it does, where will this appear? On the MSN homepage? Within Hotmail?Or maybe they were talking about the MSN ‘buddy’ icon: , which is already blue.

I also took the liberty of visiting msn.com, I saw the following. Ouch.

Don’t forward this message, But copy and paste it so that people will actually read it.

Is just some boring crap so that people won’t realize it’s a  hoax… until they read it.

It is Andy and John - the directors of MSN - sorry for the interruption, but MSN is really closing down. This is because too many inconsiderate people Are taking up all the names (e.g.. Making up lots of different accounts for Just one person), and we are only left with 578 names.

I’m not sure, Andy and John may well be the directors of MSN (If the position exists), but there is no way they are contacting everyone via a chain email. They send a newsletter to everyone anyway! The one problem I have with the statement is the number of ‘names’ left.  I attempted to do the math. If anyone has the equation, please comment. Anyway, the number of possible email addresses is way more than the number of people on earth, and it would be almost impossible to use them all up, especially since unused accounts expire after 120 days.

If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND THIS MESSAGE ON. But, If you would like to keep your account, then SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. This is no joke, as we Will be shutting down the Servers. Send it on, thanks. WHOEVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSEAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED AND IT WILL COST YOU 100.00 (pending) A MONTH TO USE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS OR REPLAY. COPY THE WHOLE E-MAIL. RETURN TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. THEN PASTE IT INTO A NEW MESSAGE AND SEND IT TO EVERYONE IN YOUR LIST!

The rest of the message is complete and utter rubbish, and reeks of chain mail. The capital letters imply shouting, not something that you would expect a company like Microsoft to do. There is no dollar sign in front of the ‘100.00 (pending)’ amount that it will supposedly cost you if the message is not sent on.

I’d also like to point out that some versions of this email contain a link to this page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1189119.stm. Scared? Look at the date.

There is no way that this message could have ever come from Hotmail or Microsoft. The grammar and spelling are something you would expect from a 6 year-old, not the directors of a company (apologies to all the 6 year-olds that might be reading this). The message not only such professionalisms as ‘Hey Pplz’, but also seems to neglect the grade one rule of using capitals only after full stops and for a proper noun or acronym. ‘Pplz, Sorry to’, ‘If you Send this message’, ‘if you don’t believe Me’, ‘this message, But‘ and so on.

It is obvious that this message is a complete joke, and should never have left the inboxes of the couple of people the author sent it to. But then, why are the messages still appearing? Why haven’t I been charged? Why? Honestly people!

I encourage everyone, whenever you see this email, or  a variation, please, I beg you, link back to this page and never, never, never, ever send this horrible piece of chain mail onwards.

Has this happened to you? Do you have another variation, have I missed something? Do you disagree? Please, comment below!

Okay, rant over.

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