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Re: New Virus alert!!! THESE ARE HOAXES



BEFORE posting helpful messages concerning viruses or suspected viruses please
check quality sites such as Symantec's.

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html

If what you discover proves to be a issue worth passing along please do, as I am
sure we all appreciate the heads-up. Viruses are no fun when corrupt data, loss
of privacy and ruined hardware are the end results. However, perpetuating the
tom foolery of hoaxes is an annoyance.

Here is a sample of what you will find there, using today's posts on WOBBLER,
California and Win a Holiday

1)                      WOBBLER Virus Hoax

                             Aliases:
                                     California
                      Known Variants:
                                     Hoax
                      Infection Length:
                                     Hoax
                     Area of Infection:
                                     Hoax
                           Likelihood:
                                     Hoax
                     Region Reported:
                                     email
                       Characteristics:
                                     Hoax



                     Description:

                     The following two messages have been sent out by email.
They are both versions
                     of the same hoax. This "virus" does not exist.

                     The hoax message includes one of the following "warnings":


                          Dear All,
                          For your reference, take necessary precautions.
                          If you receive an email with a file called
                          California, do not open the file.  The file
                          contains WOBBLER virus.

                          WARNING
                          This information was announced yesterday morning
                          from IBM; AOL states that this is a very
                          dangerous virus, much worse than "Melissa", and
                          that there is NO remedy for it at this time.
                          Some very sick individual has succeeded in using
                          the reformat function from Norton Utilities
                          causing it to completely erase all documents
                          on the hard drive.  It has been designed to work
                          with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet
                          Explorer.  It destroys Macintosh and IBM
                          compatible computers.  This is a new, very
                          malicious virus and not many people know about it.

                     Second sample of hoax message "warning":


                          VIRUS ALERT

                          If you receive an email with a file called
                          "California" do not open the file. The file contains
                          the virus. This information was announced yesterday
                          morning by IBM.

                          The report says that  "this is a very dangerous
                          virus, much worse than "Melissa" and there is NO
                          remedy for it at this time. Some very sick
                          individual has succeeded in using the reformat
function
                          from Norton Utilities causing it to completely erase
                          all documents on the hard drive. It has been
                          designed to work with Netscape Navigator and
                          Microsoft Internet Explorer. It destroys Macintosh
                          and IBM compatible computers. This is a new, very
                          malicious virus and not many people know about it
                          at this time.

                          Please pass this warning to everyone in your address
                          book and share it with all your online friends asap
                          so that the destruction it can cause may be minimized.

                     Please ignore any messages regarding this "hoax" and do not
pass on any
                     messages regarding it. Passing on messages about this hoax
serves only to further
                     propagate it.

                     Write-up by: Motoaki Yamamura
                     Updated: August 26, 1999


2)   Win a Holiday

                             Aliases:
                                     Hoax
                      Infection length:
                                     Hoax
                     Area of infection:
                                     Hoax
                          Likelihood:
                                     Hoax
                     Region reported:
                                     Online
                      Characteristics:
                                     Hoax
                      Target platform:
                                     Hoax
                         Trigger date:
                                     Hoax



                     Description:

                     Win a Holiday is not a virus. It is a hoax. The "virus"
does not exist. There is
                     currently no virus that has the characteristics ascribed to
"Win a Holiday." It is a
                     sham, meant only to panic new or inexperienced computer
users. In addition, it is
                     a mild variant of the "Join the Crew" hoax (form 4).

                     The hoax message includes one of the following "warnings":


                          VIRUS  WARNING !!!!!!

                          If you receive an email titled "WIN A HOLIDAY"
                          DO NOT open it.  It will erase everything on your
                          hard drive. Forward this letter out   as many
                          people as you can. This is a new, very malicious
                          virus and not many people know about it. This
                          information was announced yesterday morning from
                          Microsoft; please share it with everyone that might
                          access the Internet.  Once again, pass this along
                          to EVERYONE in our address book so that this may be
                          stopped. Also, do not open or even look at any mail
                          that says "RETURNED OR UNABLE TO DELIVER"  This
                          virus will attach itself to your computer components
                          and render them useless. Immediately delete any
                          mail items that say this. AOL has said that this
                          is a very dangerous virus and that there is NO
                          remedy for it at this time. Please practice
                          cautionary measures and forward this to all your
                          online friends ASAP.


                     Second "warning":


                          WARNING: If you get an E-mail titled : "Win A
                          Holiday".  DO NOT open it. Delete it immediately.
                          Microsoft just announced yesterday. It is a
                          malicious virus that WILL ERASE YOUR HARD DRIVE .
                          At this time there is no remedy . Forward this
                          to everyone IMMEDIATELY!!

                     Please ignore any messages regarding this "virus" and do
not pass on any
                     messages regarding it. Passing on messages about this hoax
serves only to
                     further propagate it.

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