Hoax or not?

[DaisyDebbie]

this Is No Joke!

A friend stopped at a pay-at-the-pump gas station to get gas.
Once she filled her gas tank after paying at the pump and started
to leave the attendant inside came over the speaker. He told her that something happened with her card and that she needed to come inside to pay.
The lady was confused because the transaction showed complete and approved. She told him that and was getting ready to leave but the attendant once again urged her to come in to pay or else.
She proceeded to go inside and started arguing with the attendant about his threat. He told her to calm down and listen carefully: He told her that
while she was pumping gas, a guy had slipped into the back seat
of her car on the other side and he had called the police. She immediately became scared and looked out there in time to see her car door open and the guy slip out.
The report is that the new gang initiation thing is to bring back
a woman's
body part. One way they are doing this is by crawling under
girls/women's cars while they're pumping gas or at grocery stores in the night time. Then they are cutting the lady's ankles to disable them in order to kidnap them,
kill and dismember them. The other way is slipping into
unattended cars and kidnapping the women to kill and dismember them.

Please pass this on to other women, young and old alike. Be extra
careful going to and from your car at night. If at all possible, don't go alone!
This is real!!
> >> >> >
> >> >> >The message:
> >> >> >1. ALWAYS lock your car doors, even if you're gone for just a
> >> >>second.
> >> >> >2. Check underneath your car when approaching it for re-entry,
> >> >>and check in
> >> >> >the back before getting in.
> >> >> >3. Always be aware of your surroundings and other individuals, in
> >> >>your
> >> >> >general vicinity, particularly at night!
> >> >> >
> >> >> >*Send this to as many girls as you know so your friend will not
> >> >>be the next
one.*
> >> >> >
Thanks,
Barbara Baker,
Secretary Directorate of Training
U.S. Army Military Police School
(573) 563-8043

 

[Serena]

I don't know if it's a hoax or not, but it has been around a while.

Regardless, be careful.

 

[dmslush]

I think I remember this being a hoax. In all honesty, if something like this had been happening on a semi regular basis, it would be all over the news.

But, like said above, still be careful. Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

 

[Michelle]

TOTAL hoax.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/perfume.htm

A good rule of thumb: NEVER believe any of these e-mails that are forwarded to you. I have not seen one yet that is true.

 

[ahutton]

The story appears to be a hoax, but it is always a good idea to look in your car before you get inside it! When in doubt I go to:

www.urbanlegends.com

They have a search feature that will pull up just about anything.

 

[Saffron]

Back in 1975 - 1976, I heard the same exact story, but instead of a gang member, there was an axe murderer in the backseat of the car.

 

[gepetto]

It is a hoax.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blkiller.htm

 

[Aprille]

Hoax! This has been around for a long time and there are several variations. According to snopes.com it's been around since 1967.

Snopes - madman - backseat

EDIT: Gee, while I was typing 3 other people posted links. LOL! Doesn't take long to confirm a hoax around here!

 

[EROS]

From snopes.com:

Variations:


The woman is either drawn into safety by a gas station attendant when she stops to fill up, or she is pursued (and ultimately warned) by a male motorist whom she mistakes for an assailant. In common with all "murdering madmen" legends, the intended victim is female, and both the evil fiend and the rescuer are male.

Sometimes the fiend is discovered to have a knife, a hatchet, or a meat cleaver in his possession; other times there's no mention of a weapon. If he does have a weapon, it will be sharp-edged rather than blunt.

In versions where the woman drives to safety, the pursuer (rescuer) is often said to be a burly truck driver or a tough-looking character. Barring that, he's often said to be Black. (Both varities clearly show white, middle class fears of minorities or of groups believed to be socially inferior, according to Brunvand.)

The pursuer sometimes periodically flashes his lights as he chases the woman's car. It's later revealed that his doing so kept the fiend from attacking her while she drove: every time the bad guy rose up in the back seat to assault her, the pursuer would bathe him with his high beams and prevent him from striking.

A hybrid of the "gas station" version crossed with the Lights Out! legend appeared in 1993. In this variation, the man hiding in the back seat confesses that as part of a gang initiation he has to sneak into the cars of two women in order to rape and murder them. The gang initiation theme surfaced again in 1999, with bad guys looking to join a gang lurking at gas stations in hopes of severing a body part off a woman as a trophy (Example 3), and in 2000 with them lurking in the same venue, looking to kidnap a woman for the gang to rape (Example 4).
Origins: This legend first appeared in 1967 and quickly caught on, becoming one of the favorite scary legends of that period. In addition to circulating orally, it showed up in Ann Landers' column in 1982, presented as a harrowing experience that had befallen the letter writer's friend.

Despite the legend's many incarnations and long history, there's no record of its ever coming true. It's a cautionary tale, warning us to be vigilant of our surroundings.

There just aren't that many bad guys lurking in backseats to get worried about. Though there have been rapes wherein the attacker hid in the back seat of an automobile, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand. As for carjackings, in the overwhelming majority of them the assailant opens the door and gets into the car while the driver is behind the wheel. There's little of this "lurking in the backseat" bit.

 

[Lucky4me]

Yes it's an internet rumor. here it is on www.snopes.com
Even so, I'm always aware of my surroundings and always check the backseat before I get in the car....

Geez, didn't realize I copied and pasted so much, sorry I'll delete it! Eros got there before I did....

 

[RoqueC]

I've heard it too. Everytime I think of it, I get an image of the scene from Child's Play, where Chucky gets in the back seat to attack the woman.

 

[disykat]

I remember the "truck driver chasing turning on his brights" version being commonly told as a ghost story when I was growing up in the late 60's.

 

[kinlaw6450]

I got this in three different email accounts...I am pretty sure its a hoax. Have you checked with snopes?? www.snopes.com

 

[vickyBaby]

I live in NJ. I don't have to pump my gas.

 

[allicat]

me too, Vickylan!

 

[Jeff in BigD]

There are telltale signs of a hoax, usually a liberal use of CAPS, a call to email it to everyone you know & reassurances that it's really real (we swear!).

When in doubt, 99.9% of the time it's not legit. If you're still not sure, check with snopes.com or do a search on the name(s) or groups named in the email.

 

[Tulirose]

Well, I never heard of it before and DaisyDebbie you scared the Dickens out of me because I thought YOU were writing it in the first person and it was YOUR friend and being from L.I., I started to panic a bit. Rereading your original post, and all the replys, I now realize, of course, that you were asking whether or not this was a hoax.

This should teach me to stop skimming over posts quickly and skipping over important lines such as your title: "Hoax or not"!!!! *smacking myself on forehead!*

 

[sandramaac]

I live in Jersey too----and I don't have to pump my gas either


So see Jersey is not half as bad as every makes it out be

I may still die of toxic waste but lord knows I will not suffer the death by ankle slashing

 

[shep]

how is someone gonna crawl under a car??
a truck i can see....
I always get on dw's case about keeping those doors locked...
anyways..be careful ladies..

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Originally posted by shep
how is someone gonna crawl under a car??

LOL, no joke! Remember what a pain it was when a ball rolled under a car when you were a kid? If you couldn't fit under a car as a little kid, how on earth is a grown man going to?