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You might think that forwarding all warnings is a good idea - after all, there might be a real one every now and then, and it's just one email to delete if it's a fake, right? Wrong. If there is a real, widespread computer virus that threatens your system, you are far more likely to hear about it on CNN than from an email warning. Real viruses, such as the Melissa virus, were headline news on CNN.com. The destructive nature of many real viruses consists of sending out large quantities of emails, thus tying up mail servers so real mail can't get through. If the response to a hoax virus warning is to forward the warning to everyone you know, it has the same effect as if it really was a virus. Hoax virus warnings worry people needlessly and give them incorrect information. They should not be forwarded.

Check for the following signs that an email message is a hoax:

• Tells you to forward message to all your friends
• Credibility by association - message mentions "experts" like AOL or Microsoft
• Contains phrases like "DO NOT OPEN!!!" or "DELETE IMMEDIATELY!!!"
• Uses many instances of all capital letters and/or exclamation points
• Contains warnings of horrible consequences such as "This will kill your computer!" or "This will erase your entire hard drive!"
• Claims that warning comes from FCC - this is a red flag; the FCC does not issue virus warnings
• Message has been forwarded multiple times
• Message does not originate from any of the mentioned "experts"
• Seeks credibility by using very technical sounding jargon

• Inform the person who sent you the warning that it is false, tell them not forward it to anyone else, and point them to this document
• Do not forward it yourself

There are many sites that list various virus hoaxes. If you're not sure whether an email warning is a hoax or not, visit one or more of these sites for information before you forward the message to anyone else.

• http://HoaxBusters.ciac.org/
• http://vmyths.com/hoax.cfm
• http://www.datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm
• http://www.hoaxkill.com/hoaxes.shtml
• http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
• http://www.stiller.com/hoaxa.htm
• http://www.gerlitz.com/virushoax/

In general, your best protection against these hoaxes and similar email is to use common sense and to apply the "what if it were paper mail?" principle which basically says, "If I received this email as a regular paper letter, what would I do?" Most of us would not forward chain letters, and we should apply the same behavior towards virus hoaxes. Remember that the true virus is not the one mentioned in the hoax, it is the time wasted, panic created, and traffic generated by spreading the hoax.