In other articles, I have written about scams, spam, and viruses. Another similar problem is virus hoaxes.
If you get an e-mail message that has a warning of a very bad computer virus (or other problem), and it says you should "send (or forward) this e-mail to everyone you know," do NOT send it to anyone. It is probably a hoax.
The problem with these hoaxes is, if everyone sends them to lots of other people, they waste a lot of time, and cause a lot of unnecessary worry. If no one sends them to other people, they do nothing.
If you receive an e-mail message that warns of dire consequences, you should check it out at a hoax list on the Internet, to find out if it is a hoax or not. Here are some virus hoax sites you can use:
Symantec, the company that makes the Norton Anti-virus program:
www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.htmlMcAfee, the company that makes the McAfee Anti-virus program:
vil.mcafee.com/hoax.aspJust make sure you check if it is a hoax, before you send it to anyone.
