Genuine virus warning, or another hoax?

[VicS]

Just receivedthe following in an email from someone I know.
Is it a genuine warning or a hoax? the latter I suspect?


It reads :

Dave' s brother is a very advanced programmer who does computer work for a living and has a high up status with Microsoft.

He doesn't send these if they aren't real. If He says this is for real, it for sure is. Be aware.

VIRUS COMING!

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 your contacts ASAP.


PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG 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 of your computer.



This virus will be received from someone who has your e -mail address in his/her contact list.

T his is the reason you need to send this e -mail to all your contacts.. It i s better to receive this message 25 times

than to receive the virus and open it.



If you receive an email entitled "POSTCARD," even though it was sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer

immediately. This is the worst virus a nnounced 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

 

[Terra-Loon]

it's a hoax. The massive drama queenery of "shut down your computer immediately" should give the game away.

 

[PhillM]

No idea but I doubt it. (I work in computing)

That said, as a rule I NEVER open emailed Christmas cards - even if I know the sender.

Just take the usual precautions like never opening UPS / Royal Mail / HMRC / Bank or any other major company unless I am expecting it. Even then never click on links directly or run EXE / ZIP or other programs.

Oh and make sure your anti-virus is up to date and you keep a firewall on when online.

 

[GrahamM376]

This hoax has been around for ages, see - http://www.google.co.uk/search?sour....0l5.0.0.0.4537...........0.Gi8Te9htLIs&pbx=1

 

[laika]

COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS

Well that certainly sounds like a virus...

 

[nortonmotors]

I had one of those yesterday, recognisable by the long list of unknown CC's and the 'message' just being a link.
Didn't even think - automatically deleted it without clicking the link.
The the alleged sender mailed again, saying the previous was a trojan.
Was that second mail a trojan too?
Amusing to someone, I presume.

 

[BruceDanforth]

Well that certainly sounds like a virus...

Actually it is a computer parasite rather than a virus and needs to pass through the mind of an idiot in order to complete its lifecycle.

 

[pvb]

Have you started on the Christmas sherry already, Vic??

 

[VicMallows]

That said, as a rule I NEVER open emailed Christmas cards - even if I know the sender.

I totally agree with you. Sadly, the senders (friends; family) still get offended when I explain WHY I haven't opened their attached executable file......"I would never send anything damaging".

 

[Bilgediver]

Just receivedthe following in an email from someone I know.
Is it a genuine warning or a hoax? the latter I suspect?

Just cut and paste the first three lines to Google and you will see it comes around every year .... I remember it a couple of years ago.

Someone send Vic some coconut oil to revive his memory

 

[nigelmercier]

Actually it is a computer parasite rather than a virus and needs to pass through the mind of an idiot in order to complete its lifecycle.

ROFL!

 

[snowleopard]

COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS

Well that certainly sounds like a virus...

No, it sounds like another from the nerds who get their jollies from having their hoax emails circulated.

 

[Robert Wilson]

Much to my embarrassment I fell for this "scare" a few weeks ago. Took a lot of squirming to start to rebuild my credibility with the younger generation.

Sad about the comment regarding not to open Christmas Cards etc. I use Jacquie Lawson a lot and they produce some great emailable clips. I think they are always safe. I've had no complaints in two years. There's a good one about a sailing boat being rebuilt.

If I can't send send you all an email card, I'll just have to wish you all "A Very Merry Christmas, a Splendid New Year - and a great Sailing Season in 2013". Cheeeeers.

 

[mobeydick]

ALWAYS check Snopes before sending anything on:

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp

I do get fed up getting 10year old hoax emails forwarded by family members.....

MD

 

[Robert Wilson]

ALWAYS check Snopes before sending anything on:

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp

I do get fed up getting 10year old hoax emails forwarded by family members.....

MD

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Anyone that runs an executable file sent by email deserves what they get.
Anyone that can't differentiate between an executable file and other attachments shouldn't have a computer.

Yes, I know that malware can be embedded in spreadsheets, documents etc, but those are much less common.

I run a virtual machine partition for opening anything suspect, that way it is most likely to just trash the vm, which is just a single backed-up file anyway and therefore easy to replace.

 

[laika]

Anyone receiving christmas cards that they're too afraid to open should probably forward them to Craig Shergold, I hear that...

..oh wait.. I think I'm missing the boaty element here...

 

[KellysEye]

If anyone mentions Microsoft or says they are from Microsoft then it's always a hoax.