Hot Hoaxes: Have You Heard Any of These Urban Legends?

Heard any good urban legends lately? 

You know, like the one about Cedar Point having to shut down Top Thrill Dragster because it's sinking into the ground.

Or remember the one about people supposedly hiding under cars in mall parking lots and slashing your ankles?

Or the one about a gang initiation where someone would flash his headlights at you at night, and if you stopped, they'd kill you?

When mall opened, a rumor spread like wildfire locally about the owners having to close the upper floor because of structural defects.

That was apparently spurred by the fact that in some areas of the second level, you can feel vibrations in the floor.

The website Snopes.com compiles and debunks urban legends, rumors, myths and scams, usually explaining how they likely got started.

Some are based on truth, while others are out-and-out false.

Here are some of the "Hot 25" identified by the site. Have any come your way?

809 area code scam -- You get a message to call someone at an 809 area code, unaware that you are calling an unregulated number in the Bahamas that will cost you $2,425 per minute, with your bill often exceeding $24,000. Snopes says it has happened, but has also been "relentlessly overpublicized" and is unlikely to affect you.

The 1 percent solution -- President Obama has proposed a 1 percent tax on all debit card and banking transactions. Nope. Not true.

Criminals are using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate you -- While you're pumping gas, someone hands you a card or flier and you start to feel ill. The card has been soaked with burundanga, a toxin that supposedly renders you into a zombie -- able to talk, but forced to follow orders. It's a real toxin, and it may be happening in Colombia, but it hasn't happened in the U.S.

Bottle bombs -- Kids are making explosives out of plastic 2-liter bottles. This one's been around for a long time, and it's true. If you find a bottle filled with liquid in your yard or mailbox, don't touch it. It may be a concoction of drain cleaner and tin foil that will eventually explode as pressure builds.

Don't friend SmartGirl15 on Facebook because it's the Koobface virus -- This is both true and false. While the Koobface malware did show up on Facebook in 2008, social media sites have since taken steps to prevent it.

Help a burned girl by sharing her photo -- A baby in suffered serious burns is supposed to get $3 every time someone shares her photo on Facebook. Not true.

Don't friend Simon Ashton -- You get an urgent message not to open an email from someone, or not to friend another person, because he's a hacker and will get access to your information. Really? No.

Onions will get you -- Bacteria on cut onions and potatoes causes more food poisoning than spoiled mayo. No, it doesn't.