WHY ARE HOAX VIRUS WARNINGS BAD?
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. 

HOW DO I SPOT A HOAX VIRUS WARNING?
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 

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I RECEIVE A HOAX WARNING? 
- 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 

WHAT IF I'M NOT SURE IT'S A HOAX? 
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. 

Copyright (c) 1999,2000,2001 by Jennifer Kitchen. Permission given to copy,
post, print out, publish and reproduce as long as this copyright notice and
the URL http://www.gooddeed.net/spothoax.html are included in its entirety.