A Nasty Virus Scare Is Going Around

This is what I received in my email this morning. It sounds bad, doesn't it?

Do not open any message with an attached filed 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 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.

I became suspicious right away when it mentioned burning my hard disk. Hard disks are NOT burned, CD 's are. So some research was in order. This email and virus are FALSE. They are a hoax. Here is the truth from Snopes.

The classics never go away, it seems, so just in time for the 2006 Winter Olympics someone has dusted off an old virus warning hoax (most commonly seen in its incarnation as the "[Virtual] Card for You" hoax) and reintroduced it as an "Olympic Torch" virus warning (also known as the "Invitation virus"). The 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.

So there you have it. Another hoax is making the rounds. Do not be taken in by it. If you ever receive anything like this and are not sure about it's truthfulness, contact me and I will research it and let you know what the truth is.

A big thank you goes out to Angebear for bringing this to my attention. I appreciate the opportunity to shoot these hoaxes down.