HUGE VIRUS COMING: PLEASE READ & FORWARD

I received this from a friend the other day:

Hi All,

I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus!
I checked Snopes, and it is for real. Get this E-mail message sent around to all your contacts ASAP.& nbsp;

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!

You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,'regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C drive of your computer.

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address on his/her contact list. That is the reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it!

If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even if it is sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN.

It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS.
REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US

This is a hoax.

Please check out these links:

• Urban Legends
  
• Snopes
  
• Antivirus.com
  
• Squidoo.com
  
• Skylark Networks
  

I googled "POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK", and these links above were in the top 10 results.

From the Urban Legends site:

Some versions of this hoax claim the information was "verified" on Snopes.com. This is NOT true. What has been verified on Snopes.com is adifferent e-card virus threat with a similar name. (see http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_you_received_greeting_card.htm)

DO beware of phony "Hallmark" (or other) e-card notices -- they may carry a real virus.

DON'T be confused by the false descriptions in the emails quoted below.

From the Snopes site:

Although the Postcard virus is real, it isn't a "BIG VIRUS COMING" (It's already been around in multiple forms for a long time now), it will not "burn the whole hard disk" of your computer, CNN didn't classify it as the "worst virus" ever...

The link from Skylark Networks shows a picture of a real email notice from Hallmark, so if you should receive an e-card email, you can verify that it's legit or suspect.

Removal of Joyce Meyer and other christian content from the airwaves

I received this from a friend the other day:

An organization has been granted a Federal Hearing on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington , D.C. Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America . They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand! If this attempt is successful, all Sunday worship services being broadcast on the radio or by television will be stopped. This group is also campaigning to remove all Christmas programs and Christmas carols from public schools! You as a Christian can help!

We are praying for at least 1 million signatures. This would defeat their effort and show that there are many Christians alive, well and concerned about our country. As Christians, we must unite on this. Please don't take this lightly. We ignored one lady once and lost prayer in our schools and in offices across the nation. Please stand up for your religious freedom and let your voice be heard. Together we can make a difference in our country while creating an opportunity for the lost to know the Lord.

Please, if you don't wish to participate, return this email to whoever sent it to you so they can at least keep this email going or forward it to some one you know who will wish to participate. Dr. Dobson is going on CNBC to urge every Christian to get involved. I hope you will sign and forward to all your family and friends.

This is a hoax. Please read the following links, and then forward this message onto whoever you sent the original message to:

• Urban Legends #1
  
• Focus on the family
  
• Urban Legends #2
  
• FCC
  

From the urban legends website:

Comments: False. The unauthorized addition of Dr. James Dobson's name to this pointless petition is only the latest of many attempts over the past three decades to make the document seem legitimate, which it is not.

"Petition 2493," supposedly an effort by atheists to ban all religious broadcasting in the United States, does not exist. Nor, at the time the variant above was circulating, was the TV show Touched by an Angel in danger of being canceled due to its religious content. Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair is dead, and has been for many years. There is currently no organized campaign on behalf of atheists to remove the word "God" from television.

When you receive something like this, don't accept it at face value - check the source. Google it - I copied the title into Google, and got the Urban Legends site in the top 5. It took me all of 2 minutes to do, and will stop false rumours from being spread around.

Olympic Torch

I received this from a friend of mine today:

You should be alert during the next days:

Do not open any message with an attached file called 'Invitation' regardless of who sent it, It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer.

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

If you receive a mail called 'invitation' , though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept

SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

This is a hoax.

A quick Google search of the first paragraph reveals the following links:

• Hoax-Slayer
  
• McAfee
  
• Wikipedia!
• Snopes
  

The entry on Snopes says it the best:

The bottom line is that this same basic hoax has been circulating in various languages since at least 2000, with occasional changes along the way. No such (incurable) virus exists, has been identified by McAfee, or was reported on by CNN.

Before forwarding anything onto anyone, a quick check on Google will tell you if it's a hoax and if you're wasting your time.

Gang Member Hidden in Back Seat Myth

I received this email from a friend of mine today:

This actually happened a few weeks ago right here in Perth. It was early evening and a young lady stopped to get petrol. She filled her tank and walked into the store to pay for her petrol. The cashier told her 'Don't pay for your petrol yet.....walk around the store for a while and act as if you're picking up some other things to buy. A man just got into the back of your car. I've called the police and they're on their way'. When the police arrived, they found the man in the back seat of the girl's car and asked him what he was doing. He replied, he was joining a gang and the initiation to join is to kidnap a woman and bring her back to the gang to be raped by every member of the gang. If the woman was still alive by the time they finish with her then they let her go. According to the police that night, there is a new gang forming here originating from Melbourne. The scary part of this is because the guy didn't have a weapon on him. The police could only charge him with trespassing.... He's back on the street and free to try again. Please be aware of what's going on around you and for your family and friends. LADIES you or one of your family and friends could be the next victim.

A quick Google search revealed the following article on Hoax Slayer. The following paragraphs are from that article.

This actually happened a few weeks ago right here near Fairfield in Brisbane. It was early evening and a young lady stopped to get petrol at a Quix. She filled her tank and walked into the store to pay for her petrol. The cashier told her "Don't pay for your petrol yet.....walk around the store for a while and act as if you're picking up some other things to buy. A man just got into the back of your car. I've called the police and they're on their way".

The dubious "warning" included above is a rehashed variant of an old urban legend that has been passed around since at least the 1960's. The legend of the criminal hiding in the back seat of a motor vehicle ready to attack the helpless female driver predates the Internet by decades. In this instance, someone has created a version of the hoax specifically aimed at Australian recipients. It is very similar to other versions of the hoax that are set in the US, Ireland, Canada and various other locations around the world.

Searches of the Queensland Police Service website reveal no reports of the incidents described in the warning email. I have found no credible news reports about such abduction attempts in Queensland or elsewhere in Australia. If the "gang initiation" method described in the message was really occurring and was a matter of police record, it would have almost certainly been given attention in the mainstream media. Also, if they were true, warnings about such gang activity would be released via official channels rather than distributed via the random forwarding of an email.

Because of this lack of confirmation from any reliable source, the email warning has very little credibility. Also, the fact that similar, and equally unsubstantiated, versions have circulated in different areas of the world for many years indicates that this Australianised variant is as much a work of fiction as its predecessors.

Of course, it is possible that a criminal could hide in a back seat of a vehicle and attack the driver. In fact an article on Snopes.com reveals that the legend may have been derived from a real incident. In 1964, an escaped criminal apparently hid in the back of a car and was subsequently shot by the car's owner, a police officer. However, unlike the subsequent stories, the criminal's motive was apparently just to escape the authorities and his plans were thwarted decisively by the male driver. In spite of this tenuous connection to a real event, there is absolutely no evidence that gang initiation rituals using the modus operandi described in the message are actually occurring.

Like many urban legends, there is some wisdom hidden among the nonsense. It is of course advisable for both male and female drivers to remain vigilant and always lock their vehicles, even if they are only stepping away for a short time.

So, by all means lock your car when you leave it, but please check out your source of information before forwarding it on to your friends.

From the daughter of a Soldier

I received this in an email the other day:

From the daughter of a Soldier

Last week I was in Melbourne attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their uniforms, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded Australian who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families. Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work, and enjoy our home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He knelt down and said "hi," the little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in Afghanistan for 5 months now. As the mum was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mum was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it. After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had
just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon." The mum at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mum.

I was standing no more than 6 feet away as this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of moment turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an Australian.

RED FRIDAYS
Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday.
The reason?
Australian's who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for Country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organised, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions.

Many Australian's, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of Australia supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every Australian who supports our men and women afar will wear something red. By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make Australia on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football team. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family, it will not be long before Australia is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on. The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?"
is..."We need your support and your prayers". Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.

IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON

IF YOU COULD NOT CARE LESS THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON.

IT IS YOUR CHOICE.

THEIR BLOOD RUNS RED---- SO WEAR RED!
LEST WE FORGET

A quick Google search reveals the following on Snopes.com

Origins: This story about a heartwarming encounter in an airport between a little girl and a troop of soldiers first began to circulate on the Internet in late June 2006. By late July 2006, it was also traveling about in a Canadianized form (see second example above), and by mid-August an Australianized version was on the move as well (third example above). Each of the three versions was often the first segment of an e-mail exhorting recipients to wear red on Fridays to show support for the troops.

Notice how the three versions - each presented as a true account of events the writer himself witnessed - differ from one another:

American

• Takes place in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Courtney's father is a Marine who has been serving in Iraq for 11 months.

Canadian

• Takes place in Trenton, Ontario.
• Courtney's father is a corporal who has been serving in Afghanistan for 11 months.

Australian

• Takes place in Melbourne, Australia.
• Courtney's father is a corporal who has been serving in Afghanistan for 5 months.

The Australian version also changes most references to Courtney's mother from "mom" to "mum." We don't know if the original (which we have reason to believe is the American version) is an account of an actual event or is a work of fiction. What we do know is that the Canadian version has twice appeared in newspapers in Canada, once very clearly identified as having been gleaned from an anonymous e-mail circulating online, and once presented as something the author had himself witnessed.

Last updated: 22 August 2006

While I sympathise with the sentiment here, I believe we shouldn't be propagating fiction dressed up as fact. Please check these things out before forwarding them onto others.

Osama Bin Laden Captured

I got an email from a friend of mine the other day that read:

Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it!

If you get an email along the lines of 'Osama Bin Laden Captured'

or 'Osama Hanged' don't open the attachment.

This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe.
Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS

If you Google this, you get the following hits:

• Trend Micro
• Break The Chain
• Hoax Busters
• Truth Or Fiction

From the Truth Or Fiction website:

There is no Osama Bin Laden suicide or any suicide photos, but one of the emails claiming to have the pictures is actually carrying a virus. The goal of the email is to trick recipients into clicking the attached file. That unleashes a Trojan Hose type virus that makes it possible for the virus writers to take over your computer and use it as a messenger for reaching other computers. It is similar to the Anna Kournikova virus that circulated before this one and tried to lure recipients into clicking the file by offering nude photos. The folks at Sophos Anti-Virus classed it as VBS/Nedal-A and say it's been around since 2002. For more details, go to:
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=99686

In June, 2002, a corrupted version of this Osama Bin Laden warning started circulating along with a virus warning that is an old hoax. It claimed that if you opened the attachment to the Osama Bin Laden email you would get a virus that will destroy your hard drive. That is not true. Then the eRumor also talks about an "Invitation" or "Olympic Torch" virus, which does not exist and is a hoax.

This is a hoax. Bottom line: keep your anti-virus software up-to-date, and don't open suspect emails and their attachments.

Contact Approved Claims Personnel Immediately

I received this email the other day:

From: "paul reifenstein"
Date: 27 August 2007 4:44:29 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Contact Approved Claims Personnel Immediately.
Reply-To: vccmchart@yahoo.co.uk

Dear Customer,

We announce to you of our Visa Credit Card Prize.Your Email appears to be one of the 7 Lucky Winners, with the following Numbers:

Winning Number: 90038
Play Number: 777V-S-S
Registered Code: AX-0033V-L-3181-C-C
Notification Number 1100VC, KXQ
Amount Won: £1,500,000GBP (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling)

Please Contact your Claims Personnel citing the Numbers above for processing of your Claims:

Contact Person: Mr. Reynold Hunter
Email Address: agent.reyhunter@vccarduk.com

Mrs.Carmen Hart.

A quick Google search revealed one exact match on an obscure mailing list.

I think it's a scam for a number of reasons:

• The sender is not from Visa, like the email claims to be. Their email address is a Canadian address.
• The reply-to address is in the UK, and doesn't match the sender's address.
  
• This address is a yahoo address, something that anyone can setup for free.
  
• It's sent to "undisclosed recipients". That means it's the same email sent to many people. How likely is it that you've won, along with a thousand others?
• The email address in the body of the email differs from the Sender and Reply-To address.
• The general structure of the email matches other known scams. Eg having a bunch of numbers like "Winning Numbers", "Notification Number" etc.

Before you reply to any emails that look suspect, check out these sorts of details. Chances are, it's a scam.

Ericsson laptop promotion

I received this in an email the other day:

*Subject: **Ericson Promotion*

hello everyone!

The Ericsson Company is distributing free computer lap tops in an attempt to match what Nokia has already done. Ericsson hopes to increase its popularity this way. For this reason, they are giving away the WAP Laptops. All you need to qualify is to send this email to 8 people you know. Within 2 weeks, you will receive Ericsson T18. But if you can send it to 20 people or more, you will receive Ericsson R320.There are people within our building who have received their laptops so I thought I would share this information with you in hopes that you get one before they give them all out.

This is a hoax. A quick Google search reveals the following links:

• Hoax Slayer
• Almost Stealing.com
• Ask Doug

From the Hoax Slayer website:

Ericsson has published a statement debunking these hoaxes on its website:

Ericsson is not giving away free phones. The chain mail you have received is a fraud and there is no person with the name of Anna Swelund working at Ericsson. At Ericsson, we are constantly looking at new innovative ways to market ourselves, chain e-mails are not one of them. We kindly ask you not to forward the chain mail further.

Similar messages claim that Nokia is the company giving away free phones for forwarding emails. This claim is also totally false.

In fact, any message that claims you can receive free products or money just for forwarding an email is sure to be a hoax. No legitimate company is likely to engage in such a haphazard and uncontrollable method of promoting their products.

Sorry guys, no free laptops.

Slow Dance

Received this from a friend of mine:

Slow Dance

This is a poem written by a teenager with cancer. She wants to see how many people get her poem. It is quite the poem. Please pass it on.

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital .

It was sent by a medical doctor. Make sure to read what is in the closing statement AFTER THE POEM.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done!
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
--------------------
FORWARDED E-MAILS ARE TRACKED TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL COUNT.
Dear All:
PLEASE pass this mail on to everyone you know - even to those you don't know! It is the request of a special girl who will soon leave this world due to cancer. This young girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to live their life to the fullest, since she never will. She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a family of her own. By you sending this to as many people as possible, you can give her and her family a little hope, because with every name that this is sent to, The American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment and recovery plan. One guy sent this to 500 people! So I know that we can at least send it to 5 or 6. It's not even your money, just your time!

PLEASE PASS ON AS A LAST REQUEST.


Dr. Dennis Shields, Professor
Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx , New York 10461

A quick check of Google says that this is a hoax. There is no little girl dying of cancer, the American Cancer society will not donate money for each email sent. Dr. Shields has nothing to do with this hoax other than the fact that he forwarded the message and automatically attached his "signature" to it. Email tracking as described in the email is technically impossible.

Check out the following links:

• Truth Or Fiction
• Cancer.org
• Hoax Slayer
• Urban Legends
• Snopes
• Break The Chain

According to the Truth Or Fiction website, the poem is actually from the pen of psychologist and writer David L. Weatherford (www.davidlweatherford.com).

Please check things out before passing them on.

#90

I received the following from a friend the other day:

I got a call last night from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician who was conducting a test on our telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine (9),zero ( 0), hash (#) and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which allows them to place long distance telephone calls billed to your home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many of the local gaols/prisons. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. PLEASE pass this on to your friends. If you have mailing lists and/or newsletters from organisations you are connected with, I encourage you to pass this on.

I typed "pushing 90#" into google and got a stack of hits to say that this is a hoax. From the Hoax-Slayer website:

False, with some rare exceptions.

In rare cases, the information in the email can be true. Some business telephone switching equipment that has been configured in a certain way may be vulnerable to the scam. If a particular type of PABX phone system requires users to dial "9" to get an outside line then it is theoretically possible for a scammer to take control of the line. However, since the information is false for the vast majority of home phone users, and certainly for mobile phone users, the email can be dismissed as a pointless hoax and should not be forwarded.

See also:
http://www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes/donotpush.html

If you receive this or a similar message, please do not forward it to your friends and colleagues. Forwarding unsolicited chain letters wastes time and bandwidth.

Please let anyone else you've told know that this is a hoax, as well as anyone who told you.

Bill Gates and email

Received this from a friend the other day:

Got a strange email today saying that Bill Gates is doing beta testing and will pay you for sending on and email to all your fiends coz he is going to track it for 2 weeks??scam/junk?? any way I don't use outook express for my email. Below is a copy of it (deleted).

It's a hoax. I typed "for every person you send this email to" into Google, and the top 3 hits were pointers to sites that say it's a hoax. For example:

• Urban Legends
• About.com
• Truth Or Fiction

From the Urban Legends website:
Comments: This is a hoax, and a recycled one at that. Bill Gates isn't sharing his fortune via chain letter. No merger between Microsoft and AOL has been announced; indeed, it's hard to imagine an unlikelier event. Two of Microsoft's biggest rivals, America Online and Netscape, merged in 1998, making AOL Microsoft's main competitor. Trust us, if these two behemoths were to merge, you'd have seen it in the headlines a thousand times over.

Moreover, Microsoft cannot track the chain letters you forward, nor will Bill Gates pay you for replicating this insipid message. Why on earth would he?

Statement from Microsoft:

REDMOND, Wash., May 12, 1999 - Recently an email has been circulating on the Internet about a new "email tracking system" from Microsoft.
As you may have suspected, this is a hoax and did not originate from Microsoft.
Microsoft does try to investigate the source of these hoaxes and take appropriate action. However, many times the hoaxers take elaborate steps to shield their true identities and we cannot identify them. Privacy and security are very important to us here at Microsoft, and we work every day to build great software for the Internet that keeps information safe, secure and private.
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.
— Message to Customers on "Email Tracking Program" Hoax

Statement from Bill Gates:
Even more annoying than spam, in some respects, are hoaxes. I'm acutely aware of this because my name was recently attached to a hoax email message that was widely distributed.
People embellished the fraudulent email over time, as it was forwarded from electronic mailbox to electronic mailbox, but an early version read this way:
"My name is Bill Gates. I have just written up an e-mail tracing program that traces everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. I am experimenting with this and I need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list will receive $1000 at my expense. Enjoy. Your friend, Bill Gates."
The bogus message was widely forwarded, which surely led to some disappointment from people who hoped to receive $1,000 for passing along what was essentially a chain letter.
— On Spam: Wasting Time on the Internet


Bottom line, please tell your friend it's a hoax. Suggest that before sending it next time, that they Google the text of the message and see if it pops up on the hoax sites.

Budweiser Frogs

I received this from a well-meaning friend the other day:

READ IMMEDIATELY AND PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW !

Someone is sending out a very cute screensaver of the Budweiser Frogs. If you download it, you will lose everything!
Your hard drive will crash and someone from the Internet will get your screen name and password!

DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!

It just went into circulation yesterday. Please distribute this message. This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning from Microsoft. Please share it with everyone that might access the Internet.

Once again, Pass This Along To EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. AOL has said that this is a very dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time.

This is VERY important. If you receive a screen saver from a friend or anyone you may not know with the Budweiser Frogs in it, DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT OR OPEN THE FILE!

Press the forward button on your email program and send this notice to EVERYONE you know. Let's keep our email safe for everyone

This is a hoax. I typed "screensaver of the Budweiser Frogs" into Google, and within a minute got a stack of hits to prove that this is a hoax. Please check the links below:

• Symantec
• McCafee
• Urban Legends
• Truth Or Fiction
• f-Secure
• Sophos

In future, if you receive a warning of this type, please take a few moments to check it out for yourself before you just forward it onto others. I'm fairly sensitive about these, having a number of well-meaning friends emailing me these sorts of warnings all the time. A quick trip to Google usually confirms the virus (or not).