Virus warning.

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oldcro

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I just received this virus warning from a friend, anyone heard of this virus and is it genuine?


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. 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.

If you receive a mail called 'POSTCARD,' even though 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.

FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO YOUR FRIENDS.
 
Lesson 1.

Any email telling you to forward it to family and friends is junk..... do the exact opposite and ignore.
 
I've lost count of how many 'worst virus ever' warnings there have been flying about.

The irony is that everyone emailing each other to warn about impending disaster is as good as a genuine virus in the first place!
 
Lesson 2.

Google your junk email before spamming others with the same junk.
 
lesson 3.

Snopes is your friend.
 
Lesson 2.

Google your junk email before spamming others with the same junk.

I resent your accusation that I was spamming anyone, as sending one post to one site is hardly classed as spamming.

I thought that if the message was true a timely warning would help other non IT experts stay safe, but thanks for your smart-ass insult of a reply anyway Spike.
 
* Edit *

(irrelevant now...)
 
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I resent your accusation that I was spamming anyone, as sending one post to one site is hardly classed as spamming.

I thought that if the message was true a timely warning would help other non IT experts stay safe, but thanks for your smart-ass insult of a reply anyway Spike.

I think that what Sp!ke meant was that people who receive these emails should not forward them to other, suggesting that whoever sent you the email is technically a spammer.

I don't think he meant that you are a spammer yourself... it seems to me that he was criticising the person sent you the email in the first place and others like him.
 
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If you bothered to read the first sentence of my original post, I was asking if it was genuine. A simple reply stating it was junk was all that was required.

The rest of the post was what I received, not my words. I should have enclosed the words in brackets to avoid confusion.
 
ooops... Sp!ke is an administrator here... language! ;)

I thought I had toned down the language enough, compared to what I felt like saying at the time.
 
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Perhaps I did come across like a smart ****.

This type of thing drives me nuts though. More so that people still fall for this some 10 years after it started doing the rounds.

I think the same email has even been posted here before and had the same responses.

Social engineering negates the need for viruses.
 
I think that what Sp!ke meant was that people who receive these emails should not forward them to other, suggesting that whoever sent you the email is technically a spammer.

I don't think he meant that you are a spammer yourself... it seems to me that he was criticising the person sent you the email in the first place and others like him.

No he didn't, he accuses me of spamming others Quote "Google YOUR junk email before spamming others with the same junk." Which was directed at me not anyone else. Which was why I was so mad with his reply.
 
Yes, Google your junk email before sending It to your family and friends... or posting it on forums.

It is junk and you are distributing it....
 
Yes, Google your junk email before sending It to your family and friends... or posting it on forums.

It is junk and you are distributing it....

1. I sent nothing to my family and friends.
2. I posted on this forum as it seems to have quite a number of IT experts.
3. I take your advice regarding Google, as there is a better chance of receiving an answer to my original question there without insults.
4. Couldn't you have just said it was junk in the first place?
 
Do you dispute any of my points?

If not, what is your issue exactly? You asked for advice and got it. If you dislike the advice then use my advice and Google first :)
 
Perhaps I did come across like a smart ****.

This type of thing drives me nuts though. More so that people still fall for this some 10 years after it started doing the rounds.

I think the same email has even been posted here before and had the same responses.

Social engineering negates the need for viruses.

Unfortunately for oldCro, people like Sp!ke and myself have seen this "dire warnings" about viruses on a very regular basis since the birth of the wholesale interwebs.. I first saw a warning like this in 1997, and spent the next few years telling my FD "it's a hoax, ignore it", along with monthly meetings that discussed the 1500 or so emails that the company received in the previous month, none of which had any virus, but approximately 600 of which had warnings about viruses.

In real terms regarding this sort of warning, the viral nature of "needing to tell" anyone about some potential risk, certainly on the internet, is a nuisance and makes the whole internet go slower and who'd want that?

Unfortunately for some, if you find an emotive subject like this you're bound to get the brunt - but it doesn't make it right.
 
Unfortunately for oldCro, people like Sp!ke and myself have seen this "dire warnings" about viruses on a very regular basis since the birth of the wholesale interwebs..

Unfortunately for some, if you find an emotive subject like this you're bound to get the brunt - but it doesn't make it right.

I'm sure everyone here is grateful for any help received in any area, but perhaps there is also a social element to posting a question, a bit like phoning a friend?

Isn't this forum fortunate then, that experienced motor technicians don't respond in the same way? Surely, a friendly manner costs nothing, and if questions are annoying, don't reply, or should members use this site as a backup to Google for everything?

BTW, I'm still having problems here with links in the ebay section opening a blank page. Any ideas?;):thumb:
 
Spike, I get the same stuff sent to me from an aunt, but we all have our public!!
 
I side with Spike on this one... I spend three years with people sending me hoax emails daily asking me what I was doing to mitigate the risk... or warning me...

The real problem is that by propagating these hoaxes, you are actually doing the perpetrator a favour, and aiding in creating soem fairly large (and profitable) active email address lists.

M.
 

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