Sorry folks, this is a total hoax... It's been 'round and 'round the net zillions of times. $1000 and a copy of Win98 just for forwarding a piece of e-mail? I think not! Mr. Bill has better things to do, like count money... You know what they say about things sounding too good to be true, dontcha?

The only thing this spam was missing was something about "the last person who ignored this letter died in a freak blimp accident...so pass it on for good luck!!"

TO: MASSAOL@aol.com
FROM: GatesBeta@microsoft.com
ATTACH: Tracklog@microsoft.com/Track883432/~TraceActive/On.html

Hello Everyone,

And thank you for signing up for my Beta Email Tracking Application or (BETA) for short. My name is Bill Gates. Here at Microsoft we have just compiled an e-mail tracing program that tracks everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. It does this through an unique IP (Internet Protocol) address log book database. We are experimenting with this and need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list you will receive $1000 and a copy of Windows98 at my expense. Enjoy.


Note: Duplicate entries will not be counted. You will be notified by email with further instructions once this email has reached 1000 people. Windows98 will not be shipped until it has been released to the general public.

Your friend,

Bill Gates & The Microsoft Development Team.