Suspected email hoax to Microsoft

[Michael Feldman]

Tried emailing this via Microsoft's site. They have referred me back to
this forum. If however this is a hoax, then could you please look into this
further?

Thanks


Michael Feldman


This information arrived this morning direct from both Microsoft and
Norton.

Please send it to everybody you know who has access to the Internet.

You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power Point
presentation
'Life is beautiful.'

If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES , and
delete it immediately .

If you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: 'It is
too late now, your life is no longer beautiful.'

Subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it
to you will gain access to your name, e-mail and password.

This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon.

AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the antivirus software's are
not capable of destroying it.

The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself 'life owner.'


PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS and ask them to PASS
IT ON IMMEDIATELY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows Live Messenger: Celebrate 10 amazing years with free winks and
emoticons. Get Them Now




Earn money when you recycle with Tiscali - http://www.tiscali.co.uk/recycle

_________________________________________________

 

[SC Tom]

Pretty old hoax.
Google is your friend. Don't be afraid to use it:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...s&aq=1&oq=powerpoint+presentation+life&aqi=g3

SC Tom

 

[Michael Feldman]

Thanks for this Tom. I will however 'take on board' anything received on
this nature. This only not only can cause much inconvenience, but also and
sometimes, wasted time.

On a serious note. I assume that Microsoft is aware of this issue on there
contact responsible for playing such a 'sick joke' such as the contents
sent.


Michael Feldman

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Tried emailing this via Microsoft's site. They have referred me back to
this forum. If however this is a hoax, then could you please look into this
further?

Messages like this (especially containing text like "PLEASE SEND A
COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS and ask them to PASS IT ON
IMMEDIATELY") are almost invariably hoaxes, and this one is no
exception. This hoax has been around since 2002. See
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/lifeisbeautiful.asp

However, let me add the following:

Attachments are very risky. You often see advice not to open
attachments from people you don't know. I think that that's one of the
most dangerous pieces of advice you see around, because it implies
that it's safe to do the opposite--open attachments from friends and
relatives. But many viruses spread by sending themselves to everyone
in the infected party's address book, so attachments received from
friends are perhaps the *most* risky to open.

Even if the attachment legitimately comes from a friend, it can
contain a virus. I'm not suggesting that a friend is likely to send
you a virus on purpose, but if the friend is infected without
realizing it, any attachment he sends you is likely to also be
infected.

 

[DL]

If you have email access you will receive spam
The From address can be falsified, it was not from MS or Norton
How much spam you receive depends to a certain extent whether your ISP has
anti spam filters installed at their end

 

[Michael Feldman]

Ken

I've viewed the link and 'boy' what a dead 'giveaway.'

My grammer might not be too perfect even at the best of times, but when you
see a phrase like 'AOL has already confirmed it's dangerousness' instead of
rephrasing, 'AOL is aware of the danger,' then it must be a hoax.

Also, I hardly open any attachments sent because of messages making me aware
that 'This attachment may harm my computer.' Then again and not so long
ago, I was 'gullible enough' to 'fall for' an item of correspondence telling
me that I had a virus on my PC. And to 'cut a long story short,' I had to
eventually perform a 'system restore' before I could get my computer back to
where it was.

To the point then. I have AVG antiviral software installed on my machine.
If however there is anything better where I don't have to keep updating,
then it would be good if you could let me know about this.

Michael Feldman

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken

I've viewed the link and 'boy' what a dead 'giveaway.'

My grammer might not be too perfect even at the best of times, but when you
see a phrase like 'AOL has already confirmed it's dangerousness' instead of
rephrasing, 'AOL is aware of the danger,' then it must be a hoax.

Also, I hardly open any attachments sent because of messages making me aware
that 'This attachment may harm my computer.' Then again and not so long
ago, I was 'gullible enough' to 'fall for' an item of correspondence telling
me that I had a virus on my PC. And to 'cut a long story short,' I had to
eventually perform a 'system restore' before I could get my computer back to
where it was.

To the point then. I have AVG antiviral software installed on my machine.
If however there is anything better where I don't have to keep updating,
then it would be good if you could let me know about this.

Four points:

1. Yes, there are better anti-virus programs than AVG. In my view,
NOD32 (which is not free) is the best, and Avast, which *is* free, is
nearly as good.

2. All anti-virus software requires updating, because new viruses come
out all the time. However, both NOD32 and Avast do the updating
automatically, and you don't have to do it manually.

3. Using anti-virus software is very much insufficient these days. You
also need anti-spyware software, and in my view, you should run at
least two such programs. MalwareBytes Anti-Spyware is best, and Super
Anti-Spyware is second best. Both are free and can be downloaded.

4. Using good anti-virus and anti-spyware software reduces the risk of
opening attachments, but it does not eliminate it. A high level of
caution is still very valuable.