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AP Photo/Wally Santana
Facebook and Twitter are now blanketed with status updates from people posting notices similar to the following:
“PRAYERS NEEDED for 12yr old Avi Ben Stella who, after a serious car crash, is now in a critical coma. Pls. change your status for 1 hr so more people can become aware and add to the prayers. We would do it for your son, pls. do this for somebody else's son.”
Is it possible that this is a request for prayers for a real child who is in trouble? Yes, it is possible. But is it likely? Probably not.
The internet abounds with bogus viral messages like the Avi Ben Stella post, which take off and seem to take on a life of their own. Most of the time, the stories are simply untrue. Some are mere pranks, while others have a more malicious intent.
A search through news sites yields no stories about a child named Avi Ben Stella being injured in a car accident. Snopes.com has the story classified as “undetermined” as of the writing of this article, and indicates the story has been floating around since mid-August 2009. Google indicates that this is one of the most highly searched stories on the internet, and yet no one can find anything to verify it is true.
According to another Examiner, threads on the name Avi Ben Stella eventually lead to a page which tries to load malware on your computer. This seems like the most likely explanation of the story's origin.
Before forwarding messages and asking people to pray for children you don't actually know, check out the story on Snopes.com or through legitimate news websites. Otherwise, while you are praying and recruiting prayer volunteers, someone else will be having a laugh at your expense – and maybe downloading spyware on computers in the process.
And if the story of Avi Ben Stella is true, someone with proof of its truth needs to come forward and set the record straight.
Update to story:
A commentor posted the following:
"Do a google search for avi amenov and you will find the article on the 12 year old boy that died. I attended his funeral and can confirm this. Look for the article in the new york post"
A google search for "avi amenov" promptly landed me on a page that tried to install a virus on my computer. I should have known better.
That said, there is a story in the New York Post about a 12 year old boy named Avi Amenov who died in a car accident two weeks ago. Nothing in the news story indicates Avi Amenov is also named Avi Ben Stella, though the child's death is certainly tragic. The New York Post article can be seen here.
Second Update:
Snopes.com now officially classifies the Avi Ben Stella story as false, along with the new variation of the story under the name of Hayden Wybron.
Third and Final Update:
Snopes.com has changed the status of this story to "outdated" and references the car accident which resulted in the death of a 12-year-old boy named Avi Amenov. As of the time of this update, it also still considers the Hayden Wybron to be a variation of the same story, in which the child's name has been changed and the age has been lowered to 6 months. While it now uses the word "outdated" to describe the story, the Snopes ratings key still marks the story as False.
Anyone looking for information on Avi Ben Stella, Avi Amenov, or Hayden Wybron should be extremely careful when searching online. Many threads on these names lead back to computer malware which will try to hijack your computer.
Comments
Do a google search for avi amenov and you will find the article on the 12 year old boy that died. I attended his funeral and can confirm this. Look for the article in the new york post.
My fault I only wanted you to click on the first link from the new york post. I should have told you that in Jewish tradition Ben means son and Stella is his mother's name therefore Avi Ben Stella means Avi son of Stella And his last name is Amenov. When a Jew is sick you say his mother's name when praying for him however this tragic child has already passed away. It happened because of a drag race between a lexus and bmw driven by teens. Again sorry about the virus didn't mean it.
Also I would appreciate if you could somehow spread the word or link to the news story because many people do not know who this is so if you could please clear this up.Thanks
I don't mean to put a damper on this but I'm not convinced it's true. Maybe it doesn't matter. I just got this same message from someone here in Jackson. I looked it up on Google and it's undetermined whether it is real or not BUT in the 60's there was a conspiracy theory that the Apollo moon landing was fake. The conspiracy was given the name AVI BEN STELLA.
I believe I found the origin of this but the website and video on the site contain viruses
"ben" means "son of" in hebrew. Google it. The boys official name will of course not show up as Avi ben his mother's name because it is not his legal name or what he is ever called socially. It is the name that is used when Jews pray for someone. For a girl is would be "bas"- daughter of- mother's name.
Maybe try some research before writing articles?
Everyone knows ben means "son of." That has nothing to do with whether or not this is an internet hoax. The fact that the kid supposedly has the same name as the Apollo moon landing conspiracy theory is enough to make me not trust it.
the internet is just exercising it's muscles. when you are lifting weights it is not because they "have" to be lifted. you are strengthening those muscles for a better use in the future(even if it is just for showing off). So as long as typing or thinking the prayers aren't hurting anyone it is a good thing to see how little effort it takes for things to travel and people to care/ relate to someone they don't know.
This is cock and bull storey.
ki kuckrinoo?
The point is not about prayer, empathy, etc. It's about preying on peoples sympathy to install malicious malware (virus) on your computer, clogging internet traffic and costing you $$ in repairs. Suite yourselves!
it's a shame...the effort to trick or scam or harm ppl should be used for something positive
Avi Ben Stella isn't a name it acctually means Avi-(his first name). Ben-(the son of). Stella-(the mothers name). When Jewish people include some one in there prayers they say the persons first name the Ben for guys which in Hebrew means son then the mothers name
People you should know by now how many hoaxes there are on the net. Plz stop forwarding mails and following everyones footprints and concentrate only in what is in your personnal interrest and in your friend network ONLY. If you are so concerned about other people go read the news online and pray for real cases but dont advertise on your personal page for people you dont know, its 99.9% of the time a hoax.
myy friendd knows the familyy
its true!!
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