Friday, March 20, 2009

Anatomy of a hoax virus warning email


key words to look for in emails that tell you to panic

I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus!
Hoax like wording because: Norton / Microsoft,/ CNN /etc do not gear up for viruses and assure ably if you call Norton, Microsoft, etc you will not get anyone to make a public statement such as this


I checked Snopes (URL above:), and it is for real!!
Hoax like wording because: the letter writer knows that most will never check with snopes for if they did, they would have found it to be a hoax or not listed.


Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP.
Hoax like wording because: yes, that is the purpose of the email. to see it cause panic

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!
Hoax like wording because: please send it to everyone


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' thewhole hard disc C of your computer.
Hoax like wording because: viruses today do not destroy equipment, viruses are used today to steal your identity and control your computer, The last thing that they want to do is destroy your hardware for that would prevent them from using you for thier deeds

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This 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.
Hoax like wording because: yes please don't annoy them once. send them the same hoax every day if you can

If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately .
Hoax like wording because: even better, shut down your pc when you receive mail, any email, ( except from me of course)

This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered recently by McAfee, 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.
Hoax like wording because: According to John Stewart of Comedy Central Daily Show, Cable News like CNN and CNBC cannot even keep track of financial news properly, now you think they would be in the Virus news space? In fact, MSFT, CNN, McAfee would never make a press release such as this, and if they did, you would not need the email.

COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.
Hoax like wording because: how many times does this email remind us to send it to everyone? hmmm.....

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