Think: What is the chain mail? Is it, "BBQ at my house! I won't like if you don't come!"? If it is, you're fine (it's not really an alarming thing, just a friend who expects you to show up and might be sore at you if you don't). If not, continue on.
Don't get drawn into reading it. Usually at the top there is something such as, "Don't read this" or "Stop". If there is, you should stop and delete it. Chain letters often tell you to "read" or "don't read" as a ploy, playing on your initial curiosity so if you read them, they'll eventually hit you with a bunch of baloney designed to push your panic button or use any other emotion you have against you for one purpose only: to get you spreading it further. However, if you are curious, or a rebel or just want to read it, continue. It's just a piece of text with maybe some graphics and animations. It can't actually do anything to you.
Stay rational and sensible. Often the email or comment will be some story, commonly about some monster or fictional dead kid attacking people. Don't lose your head and get scared. There's no such thing as monsters, you've known that since you were small. No chain letter is going to cause one to blip into existence to kill you or anyone else. You know dead people are dead, and can't go around attacking you, pulling you down some nonexistent well or do any of the things these supposedly creepy chain letters claim. None of these creepy stories forwards can actually cause that to happen, either. If you choose to read it, keep in mind the fact that every one of these scary chain email stories are absolutely untrue. Keep thinking this as you read it. Take a step back to decompress. "I always get sent these or memes with a scary picture saying you'll die at 3 AM if you don't re-post, and it freaks me out. This helped calm my nerves and take my mind off it." - Clarissa I. See the humor in it. "This made me feel a lot safer. I got a chainmail on Facebook, and it gave me an example of someone who 'died' as well, I find it funny after reading this. I've even shown this to some of my friends." - Deborah Y. Take a moment to breathe. "This really helped me be less scared and realize it's fake. I got a chain letter and reposted it to 15 people out of a panic. When I searched online and realized the letter was fake, I started to calm down. I never repost them anymore and, instead, I delete them." - Carly S. Talk through the fear. "This helped my little sibling get over her fear of the chain letter she got yesterday about a ghost. At first she was hysterical, screaming that she is scared, but I showed her this and sat down to talk to her about it, and she is fine after not sending it." - Azlyn B. Remember these aren't real. "I was recently seeing more of these posts. I would be scrolling through Twitter, and I would come across a post saying, "If you don't send this to 20 people, a girl will come and kill you at 3 AM." I looked this article up and it helped a lot! I know now that these are fake." - Rae J. We want to hear from you! Advice from our readers makes our articles better. If you have a story you’d like to share, tell us here.
Understand that the consequences of not following along with what the chain communication do not exist. After you read the story, it will say something like, "If you do not send this to ten more people, you will die in two days." Think again: Will this really happen to you? Will you actually die because you didn't send an email? How is it even possible that a made up story and text and pixels created by some anonymous hoaxer can actually kill you? It can't, any more than your computer monitor and keyboard. There's no more chance of a piece of made-up email tracking you down and killing you than there is of your computer suddenly coming to life and giving you a hug or a slap. Chain letter emails are not living beings and they are not magic. They can't physically do any more harm to anyone than an email you personally write.
Don't send it to anyone else. Doing this stops other people getting it and passing it on and it getting worse.
Keep the email. Even if it is absolutely creepy, keep the mail and smash it. Write out all of the things wrong with it and make yourself laugh at the utter ridiculousness of the story and the threat attached. Keeping the message is also a good way of stopping a troublesome emailer: you tell someone (teacher, parent, friend, etc.) you have proof of getting this unwanted email. If convenient, ask anyone else who is definitely not creeped out by the chain letter for their ideas. If you get them to dissect and ridicule the story for the fake-creepy, absurd junk it is, you and probably them will end up having a good laugh over it. This completely turns the tables on whoever actually started the chain letter that creeped out the unthinking, easily scared people who got it before you did and passed it on. Being a chain-breaker is good and never killed anyone.
Confront the sender. The person that sent you the chain letter sent it because they either thought it was funny or were duped into sending it. If you know the person who sent you the email, let them know that the letter is fake and that they shouldn't send it to people.
If they send you another email, follow steps 1-7 again.
If the person sends you three or more emails, tell someone else. You can even report them to their internet service provider if they keep sending you unwanted email. The situation is getting out of hand. Tell the person you will block their address if they keep sending you this junk. Chain letters are against the terms of service of many ISPs - they are a type of spam.
Report threats to a proper authority. If the chain letter includes a threat, such as: "I will break into your house myself and (enter bad event) you!", it may be appropriate to inform an authority (police, principal, etc.). (see Warnings).
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