A hoax chain email doing the rounds these days seems to have convinced many people that they are off on a free holiday to Disney World, courtesy of Walt Disney Junior and Microsoft's Bill Gates. The mail message urges recipients to forward it to 15 others, promising that if a new Microsoft email tracker product finds the message has reached 13,000 people, 1,300 of them will receive $5,000 (£3,378), while the rest get a "free trip for two to Disney World for one week during the summer of 1999 at our expense".

The catch? Well, first, Walt Disney had no sons, and secondly this is not the first chain email claiming Bill Gates will give money to those who forward it.

But judging by the copies in circulation over the past few weeks, several people who should have known better are now awaiting confirmation of next year's holiday.