Is It A Virus or a Hoax?

It seems as if the minute a new person logs on to the Internet they get a flood of email warning of dire consequences if they open an email with a certain subject line. There are viruses that can be transmitted via email, however a lot of these so-called viruses are imaginary. They are myths, let's face it is it really believable that Disney would giveaway trips by simply responding to an email, or Bill Gates sending money to people who kept an email chain letter moving through cyberspace? There are many of these email hoaxes floating around the Internet at any given time.

Hoaxes become viruses simply by individuals forwarding the hoax across the Internet to other unsuspecting individuals, these individuals read the warning and forward it on to still more people. Thus the "virus" spreads throughout the Internet.

The next time you receive an email warning of potential hazard to your computer if you open an email. Go check out the following webpages in particular to see if there is any truth to the message. An email may in fact contain a virus, but please check out the following pages to verify its authenticity before forwarding it on to someone.

The first place to visit to determine if something is a hoax or not is the

U.S. Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability

Hoaxes described on this page: PKZ300, Irina, Good Times, Good Times Spoof, Deeyenda, Ghost PENPAL GREETINGS!, Make Money Fast, NaughtyRobot, AOL4FREE, Join the Crew, Death Ray, AOL V4.0 Cookie, A.I.D.S. Hoax, Internet Cleanup Day, Bill Gates Hoax, WIN A HOLIDAY, AOL Riot June 1, 1998, E-mail or get a Virus, Bud Frogs Screen Saver, Disney Giveaway Hoax.

Another place to visit is

Computer Virus Myths Homepage

If the email or file is listed on one of these two pages, it's probably a myth. If it is, please don't forward it to anyone. Internet chain letters just clog the Internet, slowing it down for everyone.

Also, most of the Anti-Virus companies have pages dealing with hoaxes, click on the links below to visit them.

JDBGMGR.EXE Hoax and how to recover file

Symantec Norton Anti Virus Hoax page

Trend Micro's Hoax Encyclopedia