A hoax e-mail sent by a trainee lawyer that matter-of-factly
announced the murder of a secretary in his firm has been widely
circulated, landing the sender and those in his firm who forwarded
it in disciplinary trouble.
The trainee at the Hong Kong office of London-based law firm
Herbert Smith sent the following message internally:
"Please note that our night secretary,
Natalie Francisco (24th Floor), has been murdered. The replacements
are as follows:
Friday 16th March [Ms W], her station is
2436-2 ext. 3129
Monday 19th March [Ms C], her station is 2439-1, ext. 3172."
The e-mail, which concluded with the name of a personnel
manager, came as a shock, particularly to Ms Francisco. Some other
members of staff, believing the message to be true, were said to be
horrified by the personnel department’s apparently uncaring
attitude.
The firm has said that some of those responsible for sending and
forwarding the e-mail will be given “an extremely serious talking
to” although not everyone internally will be disciplined.
