Beware of virtual greeting cards!
KingDon at Audiominds posted this warning today. Thanks Don.
Flavio, sorry for posting it here rather than the Everything Else forum but I wanted it to be seen.
Don
QUOTE:
WORST VIRUS EVER — CNN ANNOUNCED
PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST!!
A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft
as the most destructive ever. This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon
by McAfee . This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where
vital information for its functioning are stored.
This virus acts in the following manner:
It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title:
“A Card for You”.
As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened the computer freezes so
that the user has to reboot. When the ctrl+alt+del keys or the reset button
are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the
hard disk. Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic in New
York, according to news broadcast by CNN.
This alert was received by an employee of Microsoft itself.
So don’t open any mails with subject: “A Virtual Card for You.” As soon as
you get the mail, delete it!! Even if you know the sender !!!
Please pass this mail to all of your friends.
Forward this to everyone in your address book. I’m sure most people, like
myself, would rather receive this notice 25 times than not at All
Don,
Thanks for your concern, but it’s a hoax…
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/hoaxes/virtualcard.html
Thanks Mark!
I was totally taken in by it.
OK, Flavio, pleease remove this post and end my embarrasment.
"No good deed goes unpunished!"
Don
No need to be embarrased Don, you were just trying to help us. There are so many of these things floating around the internet nowadays, they’ve become a form of virus themselves.
When I see these things, I tend to make a quick assessment because many of them have similar traits…
* The worst virus ever found. Major destruction, etc
* No cure yet
* The message comes from a reliable source (CNN, Microsoft etc).
Then I cut an paste a line from the message into google and see what comes up. Usually it’s one of the reputable virus companies either explaining that it’s a hoax or the real thing.
Eg. Put this line into google:
"are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the"
HTH someone
Mark
Completely agree Mark !
Ludo
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| * The worst virus ever found. Major destruction, etc * No cure yet * The message comes from a reliable source (CNN, Microsoft etc). |
And also ‘send in to everyone in your address book’ lights up the red lights for me.
I also put in in google, and www.snopes.com is my friend.
Wihan
Edit: It is good to have someone that you can bounce something like this off before you send it off as well. I have about 5 friends that send me questions about stuff like this before they send it off to 100’s of people. Mostly it’s hoaxes. (I must say they started doing this after I ‘replied to all’ on a couple of their forwards with a message included that tells EVERYONE that there time was wasted by a hoax. People start to think twice after they look stupid amongst their friends
)Edit 2: But then again, Don - it is better to be overly sensitive to your PC’s welbeing when it comes to viruses (virii ?) than not to care at all.
Check this one out :
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Subject: Virus Alert If you receive an email entitled “Badtimes,” delete it immediately. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer. It demagnetizes the stripes on ALL of your credit cards. It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD’s you attempt to play. It will re-calibrate your refrigerator’s coolness settings so all your ice cream melts and your milk curdles. It will program your phone autodial to call only your ex-spouses’ number. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank. It will drink all your beer. It will leave dirty socks on the coffee table when you are expecting company. Its radioactive emissions will cause your bellybutton fuzz (be honest, you have some) to migrate behind your ears. It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine, all while dating your current boy/girlfriend behind your back and billing their hotel rendezvous to your Visa card. It will cause you to run with scissors and throw things in a way that is only fun until someone loses an eye. It will give you Dutch Elm Disease and Psitticosis. It will rewrite yo ur backup files, changing all your active verbs to passive tense and incorporating undetectable misspellings which grossly change the interpretations of key sentences. It will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub. It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, but it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk. It will replace all your luncheon meat with Spam. It will molecularly rearrange your cologne or perfume, causing it to smell like dill pickles. It is insidious and subtle. It is dangerous and terrifying to behold. It is also a rather interesting shade of mauve. These are just a few signs of infection. PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!! |
