Persuasion via False Friend

Characteristics

1.	Source of 'information' or 'insight' is almost always hazy or absent.
2.	The message may be entirely a video after which you are left persuaded by the final assertion, but where rebuttal is difficult because you can’t write the argument down to analyze it.  For example, the assertion “Maybe it’s not the gun --- maybe it’s the person holding the gun.”
3.	Looming recurring deadline specified.  E.g.: “Cell numbers go public at the end of the month.”
4.	False information is mixed with truth.
5.	Inclusion of pictures apparently-underscoring assertions in the message  but otherwise unrelated to the message.  E.g. Obama ceremoniously greeting a foreign dignitary paired with an assertion Obama is not looking out for America's interests, an annoyed Romney paired with a description of sick people without health insurance, and so on.  
6.	At the beginning a fact of unquestionable truth or a value/opinion of universal acceptance is included.  E.g., xxxxxxx
7.	Writers in the first person will offer a validating personal value that is not universal, but is universally acceptable.  E.g.,“I worked to get where I am.”
8.	Alternately to the above, an essay by recognized authority may be quoted but out of context or with factual errors introduced.  Or a quotation by an authority (Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein are often used) may be cited.  The quotation is asserted without reference to to a reliable source and usually cannot be found unaltered in a reliable source.  
9.	You are urged to “pass it on”.  “You” are just one of some people about whom the message originator or forwarder is concerned.
10.	After it has begun to circulate, the message tends to circulate with a large number of previous recipients attached so that the message seems to come from 'those in the know'.  From a friend, or a friend of a friend, or ...
11.	False parts of the message are not corrected.  The sender is clearly more concerned with you getting the original message than it with an errata sheet.  In fact versions of the message tend to accumulate additional content - wrappers.  The additions are never apologies or retractions to the effect that the earlier message was in error.
12.	The original message may be encapsulated/wrapped by another person's assurance that the message is true.
13.	The language is not stuffy or foreign: it is “your” language!
14.	“Your” “friend” sounds genuine and somewhat public-spirited.  As of 2012, he is always a he, never a woman.
15.	The message circulates endlessly – literally for years or even decades.  Over the years, the same person will circulate it two or three times.  (The fact that the a person will circulate these emails when received, and again later  indicates that they have alzheimers or that they understand the likely impact of large numbers of people reading it – repeatedly.  And want the message to be accepted – more than they respect your email load.)
16.	If widely circulated, it may well have caught the attention of fact-checking websites.  These sites include 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6 .  For political claims they include http://www.factchecked.org/ , http://urbanlegends.about.com , http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker  , http://www.factcheck.org/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politifact , and http://fullfact.org/ 
17.	People will forward the message without fact-checking.  They don't care, as long as it seems to confirm their existing pre judgements.
18.	One type of persuasion message is a lengthy and surprisingly well-reasoned video monologue by an insider about why his group needs to change their ways.  These messages often have the individual looking right at you – but not quite, because they are using a teleprompter.  These messages appear to have the group's (his or her own group's) best interests at heart, but have some unrevealed person or group's money behind their preparation and are delivered by an individual who has sold out the group of which he was a part.  There is  no “Brought to you by …” admission.
19.	And, of course, a message ending with anything like  NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, may contain business confidential and legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message. but not identifying the business on whose computer this message was apparently-written.  This is a dead giveaway that the message is intended to deceive.
20.	And, new in 2012, we are beginning to see the following.

Thought you might find this interesting......
To prevent Email addresses from being spread around the internet, please remove all email addresses when forwarding and then use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) address column for all recipients you are sending to.
Each party will only see their name and no others.
Thank you
This is very interesting and worth reading
Then the Persuasion via False Friend message 
21.	Veiled threats if you fail to fall in line.  For example:
> If you don't forward this you have no sense of humor.
>
> Nothing bad will happen, however, you must live with yourself
> knowing that laughter is not in your future

If your 'crap detector' goes off because of items in the above list or for other reasons, it is not hard to take advantage of, yourself, some web sites who are recognized to do good fact-checking.

For example, you can try a search like this in  google.     
Keyword1  Keyword2 “Key phrase”  site:{snopes.com | liepie.com | urbanlegends.about.com/  | truthorfiction.com/  | hoax-slayer.com/  }

Examples  
I'll Win, I'm the White Guy site:{snopes.com | liepie.com | urbanlegends.about.com/  | truthorfiction.com/  | hoax-slayer.com/  }

Obama citizenship “supreme court” site:{snopes.com | liepie.com | urbanlegends.about.com/  | truthorfiction.com/  | hoax-slayer.com/  }

“cell phone” public site:{snopes.com | liepie.com | urbanlegends.about.com/  | truthorfiction.com/  | hoax-slayer.com/  }  Result