The Avi Ben Stella car crash story appears to have finally gone properly viral.
Essentially, people are getting an email, or a Facebook request (and any other of the various forms of social media request) to simply change their status for one hour in order to ask for prayers for Avi Ben Stella, a 12 year old child who is now in a coma after being seriously injured in a car crash.
You can see the current status of this at Snopes, here.
No one is as yet quite sure: is there an Avi Ben Stella, was someone of that name in a car crash? Or is it simply a joke of some kind, although as yet the punchline is undelivered?
My supposition is that this is a joke, a game, of some sort. For one of the terms that has been replicating across the internet is "Avi Ben Stella Snopes".....and where would you go to try and find out the truth of an online rumor? Yes, Snopes.
But if the search engines are thoroughly polluted with that serach term, you're most unlikely to find the Snopes entry, are you? You can only get there by using the engine on Snopes' own site.
So I would write this off as a joke, a game: if anyone knows differently please do contact me in the comments.
Update: As ever, it turns out that commenters know more than journos. It appears that if you keep following the threads you'll end up at a page trying to load malware. So best just to ignore it all. That's what we have comments sections for folks!
Comments
I agree that this SCREAMS hoax. Snopes was still calling it undetermined, but I couldn't find a single article or news story about this kid. Strange.
It's a hoax AND a social engineering attack. Find the earliest "Avi" pages, and you'll find pages loaded with malware ready to infect your computer. I'd post a link to more information, but that's not allowed here.
here is more about the 12 year kid in the car crash.
http: //tinyurl. com/nr225g
I was one of 200 people at his funeral do a google search for Avi Amenov apparently people keep spreading the story but he is a jewish kid who died you will find the article from the NY Post.
EXAMINER WRITERS CREATE HOAX AND RUMORS. I was covering the Ryan Jenkins pursuit on my blog and Jennifer A. another writer for your rag did the same thing you are doing now. Why don't you see what I wrote about her and read what I will write about EXAMINER.COM TRASH JOURNALISM. See answer-answers. On the blogspot.
I think they just have the name wrong. It's Avi Amenov
www.nypost.com/seven/08172009/news/regionalnews/boy_hurt_in_drag_race_dies_184953.htm
I found nothing in the news about an "Avi Ben Stella." But I did find news stories about Avi Amenov, a 12-year-old boy who died as a result of a drag racing accident in Bayside a week ago. It looks like the story is true, but the name got changed in the retelling.
Ben Stella is not his last name his mother's name is stella And ben means son in HEBREW. Therefore Avi Ben Stella means avi son of stella that is how you say a prayer for the person by Jewish Tradition. I assure you that this is true and that his last name is really AMENOV I don't know how this news spread so fast though After he passed away.
What is wrong with just saying a prayer? What is wrong with giving the benefit of doubt and just saying a prayer? The first impression in my mind was not finding out the truth but rather just saying a prayer. Just Say A Prayer!
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