Constable Simon Lofting, a British detective from Essex, is now being bombarded with emails and phone calls from concerned women from different parts of the world. The reason for his sudden popularity with the ladies: a forwarded email on a date rape drug called Burundanga.
Receiving the email
Detective Lofting received an email on Burundanga, a powerful date rape drug that is allegedly threatening the safety and protection of different women all over the world. According to the email, women should refrain from accepting business cards from strangers. These business cards might be coated with Burundanga, a substance that is purportedly four times more effective and more powerful than any other date rape drug.
Forwarding the message
His primary intention was to send the email to the intelligence officers to verify whether the date rape drug claim is genuine or not. In an unexpected twist of fate, he accidentally forwarded the email not to the intelligence officers but to the concerned women of the community.
Alerting the women
Many concerned women immediately fell for the forwarded email. What’s not to believe, anyway? After all, it was originally sent by a detective. Besides, the message seemed very authentic. It even featured Detective Lofting’s police number and police unit at the bottom of the page, thus making it more genuine.
Disproving the email
Much to Detective Lofting’s dismay, the email for which he became successful for turned out to be a hoax. According to a spokesperson for the Essex Police, “The email has been exposed as a hoax. The whole story, which hints [that] the incident happened in Essex, was from an urban myths website and was altered to include a warning from an Essex Police marine unit officer.” So, what is the spokesperson’s advice to the people who received forwarded copies of the email? “Anyone who receives it should delete it from their inbox,” he said.