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How can I check if a Virus warning is real or a hoax?
John Savill
January 25, 2000
1 Min Read
A. More and more warnings are being sent to people from ill-informedpeople trying to help regarding viruses which don't actually exist. Theoriginators of these messages just try to see how many people it can bedistributed to and cause panic.
Some of the best known hoaxes include:
The "Returned Mail" virus, which essentially tells you not to read any e-mail that was returned because the mailing system was "Unable to deliver" it. (If you can't read it, you may never find out why it wasn't delivered!) In fact, viruses can't be communicated very well with e-mail (except in certain file attachments).
The "Penpal Greetings" virus
The "Good Times" virus, one of the oldest
Budweiser Screen Saver (obviously started by someone who likes Beck's)
A number of sources exist that list these hoaxes so if you receive a messagealways check before forwarding to others (as you just make it worse). If youfind it is a hoax message reply to the sender informing them of the fact toavoid future distribution.
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