Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

urban legend
     
         A story, which may have started with a grain of
        truth, that has been embroidered and retold until it has
        passed into the realm of myth.  It is an interesting
        phenomenon that these stories get spread so far, so fast and
        so often.  Urban legends never die, they just end up on the
        {Internet}!  Some legends that periodically make their rounds
        include "The Infamous Modem Tax", "Craig Shergold/Brain
        Tumor/Get Well Cards", and "The $250 Cookie Recipe".
     
        (1996-05-08)