Urban legends are such a large part of human history and culture that it is no surprise that they turned into the e-mail forwards when e-mail became popular. Most of these stories are meant to entertain and distract you, which is not bad at all, but there are some that have malicious intent that can try and get something from you. By knowing the difference between these types of e-mails, you can safely enjoy the messages that you get.

Most e-mails are going to fit safely in the storytelling category. Often times, these are funny stories meant to amuse you by telling you about a ridiculous person or a funny pet, and usually accompanied with a picture that is supposed to prove that the story is true. Chances are, the picture is as fake as the story. But that does not mean that you can’t enjoy it. Read and enjoy, as this is just another facet of human storytelling.

A small portion of these stories is probably going to be scary in nature. A more recent example of this is the story of Carmen Winstead. She was supposedly a girl who was killed by bullies when they pushed her down a well. The story goes that her ghost avenged her by killing the bullies one by one over the coming weeks. You may or may not like ghost stories, but either way, stories like this are simply meant to creep you out, and usually do not have any malicious intent behind them.

The types of e-mails you need to avoid are the ones that ask you to take some action. The most famous example of this is the story of the Nigerian prince. The e-mail is supposedly from a member of the Nigerian royal family (which doesn’t even exist) stating that he has a large fortune he needs to get out of the country, and if you send him your bank account, he will send it to you. Obviously, if you were to e-mail your bank account number to this e-mail address, whoever is at the other end would quickly clean your bank account out. Do not fall for this trick. In fact, no matter how legit the e-mail looks, you should never send any personal information at all online. Spammers have even been known to copy the look and template of bank e-mails and government agency e-mails, trying to lure people into e-mailing their personal information to them. Never, ever send any personal info by e-mail. Call them and do all your business over the phone.

So long as you avoid taking actions that e-mails suggest you take, you should probably be able to enjoy your e-mail forwards as much as you want. We are all people, and we enjoy reading stories. There is no reason to try to fight that.