Virus hoax that says NOT to delete the infected file

[Steven M (to reply, remove the cola)]

I just got this virus warning in Spanish. Quick and dirty
translation:

=============================
ATTENTION! PLEASE TAKE NOTE!
THIS MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE.
Warning, this is expected to begin in 48 hours.
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION:
This message arrived last night. Microsoft has just announced it. The
announcement says:
If you receive an email with the subject HELP, don't open it, or pass
your mouse cursor on top of it or even erase it, because this event
will activate the virus without needing to download it. Wait 48 hours
after the arrival of the virus to erase, otherwise it will erase your
hard disk and the BIOS and there is no cure, since it affects the boot
system and does not let you load the operating system.

Note: The virus may come from an unknown sender or with the name of
one of your contacts.

VERY URGENT,
PASS THIS ON TO ANY PERSON WHO HAS YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!
=============================

It's obviously a hoax. Note the panicky tone, doesn't give a date
when the 48 hours is supposed to start, quotes Microsoft without any
support, and urges everybody to pass it on.

And I don't think there is any virus that will activate by passing
your mouse over it.

Is there an authoritative source that describes and debunks this
particular hoax? I want to make an impression when I write back.

 

[David H. Lipman]

Authorative HOAX site:

http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

You can search their database.

Dave



| I just got this virus warning in Spanish. Quick and dirty
| translation:
|
| =============================
| ATTENTION! PLEASE TAKE NOTE!
| THIS MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE.
| Warning, this is expected to begin in 48 hours.
| PAY CLOSE ATTENTION:
| This message arrived last night. Microsoft has just announced it. The
| announcement says:
| If you receive an email with the subject HELP, don't open it, or pass
| your mouse cursor on top of it or even erase it, because this event
| will activate the virus without needing to download it. Wait 48 hours
| after the arrival of the virus to erase, otherwise it will erase your
| hard disk and the BIOS and there is no cure, since it affects the boot
| system and does not let you load the operating system.
|
| Note: The virus may come from an unknown sender or with the name of
| one of your contacts.
|
| VERY URGENT,
| PASS THIS ON TO ANY PERSON WHO HAS YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!
| =============================
|
| It's obviously a hoax. Note the panicky tone, doesn't give a date
| when the 48 hours is supposed to start, quotes Microsoft without any
| support, and urges everybody to pass it on.
|
| And I don't think there is any virus that will activate by passing
| your mouse over it.
|
| Is there an authoritative source that describes and debunks this
| particular hoax? I want to make an impression when I write back.
|
|
|
| --
| Steve M - (e-mail address removed) (remove dirt for reply)
|
| "Facts do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored."
| -- Aldous Huxley

 

[Tim H.]

I just got this virus warning in Spanish. Quick and dirty
translation:

It's obviously a hoax. Note the panicky tone, doesn't give a date
when the 48 hours is supposed to start, quotes Microsoft without any
support, and urges everybody to pass it on.

And I don't think there is any virus that will activate by passing
your mouse over it.

Is there an authoritative source that describes and debunks this
particular hoax? I want to make an impression when I write back.

Well, here's McAfee's writeup:

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=99255

Symantec:

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/wait.48.hours.hoax.html

You can also search Goole for (verbatime):

virus +"48 hours"

-Tim

 

[Steven M (to reply, remove the cola)]

I have searched at Norton and McAfee, and now Hoaxbusters.

But I don't know what to search on.

There's no virus named in the warning, the words "do not delete" do
not appear in any of those sources, and the word HELP (which was
written in English in the warning) doesn't produce anything like this.

 

[Steven M (to reply, remove the cola)]

It's obviously a hoax. Note the panicky tone, doesn't give a date

Well, here's McAfee's writeup:

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=99255

Symantec:

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/wait.48.hours.hoax.html

You can also search Goole for (verbatime):

virus +"48 hours"

That worked. Actually it gave me an idea, and I searched for "48
horas" and virus. This led to several descriptions of the hoax in
Spanish.

http://www.vsantivirus.com/hoax-48horas.htm
http://www.alertaantivirus.es/virus/detalle_virus.html?cod=1069

Thanks

 

[FromTheRafters]

Is there an authoritative source that describes and debunks this
particular hoax? I want to make an impression when I write back.

Will this do?

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=99255

All I did was search for hoax 48 on Yahoo.

....Yahoo is my *other* friend. ;o)

 

[Why so many stars for so few four-leaf clovers?]

I just got this virus warning in Spanish. Quick and dirty
translation:
[snip]

It's obviously a hoax. Note the panicky tone, doesn't give a date
when the 48 hours is supposed to start, quotes Microsoft without any
support, and urges everybody to pass it on.

Rigth.

And I don't think there is any virus that will activate by passing
your mouse over it.

Not true. This worked fine with very old and unpatched MS-OE (MS-OE 4, I
think).

I used it to add a script in a mail (html format) in the past to alert my
friends about the need of patching.

When the user received the mail a message popup was displayed even if the
user didn't open the mail.

The popup arrived simply by selecting the mail, and even by selecting the
inbox folder if the mail was on the very top of the list.

As far as I can remember, the script was inserted between the </head> and
the <body> tag.

This no longer works with the current versions of MS-OE.