Hoax: “Kathy Will Find You” Chain Letter

I’ve been noticing comment threads containing these “Kathy will find you” posts lately. If we are to believe the post, a girl named Kathy who killed herself wants you to repost this comment or she will find you and something terrible will happen. Three examples are cited as “proof” of the email. But can we believe this?

Of course not! This is an old fashioned chain letter, meant to play on fears and superstition of its readers. These were referred to as “chain” letters because recipients would be prodded to send copies of the letter out, less they suffer the consequences of breaking the chain. In this case, unlike chain letters of the olden days that were sent via snail mail, we now find them in the form of comments on sites like Facebook or Youtube. The word “chain” isn’t used, but the same scare tactic is.  Many people who don’t believe it, will still be frightened enough to pass the hoax along “just in case.”

Let’s look at the message itself:

ONCE YOU’VE STARTED READINGTHIS YOU CAN’T GET OUT! rEAD ON IF YOU DON’T WANT TO DIE
… ………A year ago A girl named Kathy was hated by everyone. Everyone made fun of her. She was ignored. Even by messages. One day she decided to kill herself. Because even her parents ignored her. She jumed out her window. No one noticed utill people started dissapearing. Kathy haunted them. She made them suffer like the way she did. She hung them slowly and stabed them over and over very slowly so they could suffer like she did.
If you don’t send this message to 15 diffrent comments you will die tonight by Kathy. Because she considers it ignooring her.
Example 1:
Dave looked at the first sentece and said, “Spam” And the next day the neighbors found him in his backyard, dead.
Example 2:
Joane was alone. She didn’t have kids or a husband. She had alot of friends. When She had a sleepover with them she quickly had to check her e-mail.She saw this message and sent it to only 6 people because she thought she couldn’t die that night beacuse she was surounded by people. The next morning Joane’s friends found her in her bathtub, dead.
If you don’t send this, Kathy WILL find you

Obviously, the text above is meant to scare its readers. Notice how the three “examples” are included, with no corroborating evidence.

Don’t be suckered into these scare tactics. There is no “Kathy” and millions of people have read these comments, and chain letters like it, with no ill effects. Re-posting such garbage only proliferates a lie created by someone who finds pleasure in playing on people’s fears and superstitions.