It looks like that Bill Gates hoax e-mail is making the rounds again and as a public service we’re warning folks because of all those ignorant people that will fall for it — some of them more than once.

The e-mail promises that Mr. Microsoft will pay you money if you forward it. The first version of this e-mail popped up in April 1999.

Bottom line: Bill Gates isn’t going to give you money for forwarding spam. Neither is AOL — no matter what whoever sent it to you says their brother-in-law the lawyer was paid. There is no such virus called Good Times. The Post Office isn’t considering a fee on e-mail, and that kid from the Make-a-Wish Foundation asking for business cards is now cured, in his 40s and has all the business cards he’ll ever need. And finally, no one in Nigeria is going to pay you to hold on to some money they’re trying to smuggle out of the country.

We like what www.urbanlegends.com had to say about it all. “These e-mail forwarding hoaxes have been multiplying at a furious rate. New variations are popping up every week,” the site says. “These e-mail forwarding hoaxes are a way of tweaking the Internet novice. Consider them the Internet equivalent of the ‘Kick Me’ sign. Why shouldn’t you forward these e-mails? If you do, your friends who know these are hoaxes will think you are a credulous newbie.”.