That's All Carjacked Up, or: How the NorthPark Hoax Made the E-Rounds

About half an hour ago, Allen Gwinn alerted us media types to this Dallas.org item concerning a hoax e-mail being sent 'round concerning the harmful hustle that wasn't: folks taping fliers to the back windows of cars at NorthPark Center, which they use to lure would-be victims from their vehicles...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 16, 2008

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About half an hour ago, Allen Gwinn alerted us media types to this Dallas.org item concerning a hoax e-mail being sent 'round concerning the harmful hustle that wasn't: folks taping fliers to the back windows of cars at NorthPark Center, which they use to lure would-be victims from their vehicles. Not true, know those in the know -- which didn't stop Sheffie Kadane's office from sending out the e-blast, despite alerts from the alert who'd already scoped the hoax on Snopes.

Allen included with his missive a strand of e-mails from various crime-watchers notifying both Kadane's assistant and his secretary to stop with the scaring. To which assistant Caroline Nosworthy replied, "We would never send out information that we know to be false and if we find that we have sent out erroneous information I will be the first to re-tract it." Only, not so much. Because, she later tells Gwinn, to retract the missive "would cause more confusion." Not really. I hope Allen posts all the e-mails. They're quite the read. --Robert Wilonsky

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