I have been getting a lot of these "postcard emails" lately (seven yesterday).
DO NOT open them.
Please heed the warning below. I don't know if it is as bad as described, but I wouldn't take any chances.
Here is a link to the Snopes Page :
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp
PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST!!
A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive ever.
This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee .
This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital information for its functioning are stored.
This virus acts in the following manner:
It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title:"A Card for You".
As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened the computer freezes so that the user has to reboot.
When the ctrl+alt+ del keys or the reset button are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the hard disk.
Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic in New York , according to news broadcast by CNN.
This alert was received by an employee of Microsoft itself.
So don't open any mails with subject: "A Virtual Card for You."
As>soon as you get the mail, delete it. Even ifyou know the sender,
Please pass this mail to all of your friends.
Forward this to everyone in your address book.
I'm sure most people, like myself, would rather receive this notice 25 times than not at All
Complete List of Virus's on Snopes.com Click Here
Colin said...
I should correct my earlier comment...SOME of these do have avirus attacment requesting that you download the ecard. The majority don't have this, but are to be treated with the same caution and deleted.I have opened one of the infected ones on another pc which is not connected to the internet....it carries a Trojan which will replicate itself, and spread through emails. It will NOT zero your hard drive or boot sector.Again....simple advice, any mail from an unknown source DELETE
Aug 5, 2007
New Email Virus
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7 comments:
Well I never open anything that isn't from someone on my contact list..but, geez...now you even have to worry about that...because suppose they don't have proper virus protection, and, are do open one of these cards. Will they stop at nothing to try to destroy our means of communication...and, you know who I mean by they!!!
Thank you! I never open attachments I haven't expected or cards from people I don't know. But I'm very impulsive and a postcard strikes me as more innocuous than a greeting from a classmate or notices from PayPal, which has never contacted me before. Without the warning, I just might have lost everything.
Wow! This is another vital and valuable post at your blog site, and especially this one, plus 1, I might add. I am one who is appreciative for a card send by one I know, I will definitely open it. Since this post by you Carol, I shall be wise to identify first. Thanks a million.
The emails come under many headings that in one way or the other says a friend has sent you a card, a schoolmate etc...etc...
I just report them as spam and they get moved to my trash which I empty at the end of my email session.
Do not open anything from anyone you don't know and if not sure contact the person the emails from to verify that it did come from them directly and not a virus sent email coming from one they openned and copies\sent from their email addy list.
Take care and ...
God Bless.
Sadly these have been around for quite a while, using some well known company names too.
The subject line varies, but is normally along the lines of 'You have a card fome a friend', 'A mate has sent you a card', 'Someone special has sent you a card','You have a greeting card waiting' etc.
Originally started in 1999, there is no virus, but as virus warnings generally do, this one caught on quickly. People all over the world were not only forwarding the alert to everyone they knew, they were posting it to newsgroups and spreading it in personal messages. Not one word of it was true.
What it does do is bring down servers with overload.
Best practice with any email is that if you don't know the sender, delete it, make sure your anti-virus is up to date and all security patches are up to date.
I should correct my earlier comment...SOME of these do have avirus attacment requesting that you download the ecard.
The majority don't have this, but are to be treated with the same caution and deleted.
I have opened one of the infected ones on another pc which is not connected to the internet....it carries a Trojan which will replicate itself, and spread through emails. It will NOT zero your hard drive or boot sector.
Again....simple advice, any mail from an unknown source DELETE
Just to confirm, this is a hoax, see the attached McAfee link http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_98893.htm
In general terms, if it says that Anti-virus software can not delete it' or to 'circulate this message to everyone' you can be sure it is almost certainly a hoax.
If you are not sure, you can go to the McAfee AVERT Threat Library http://vil.nai.com/vil/default.aspx and enter a bit of the text from the message and search for the results.
The AntiVirus companies get the viruses sent to them for dissection and to find cures very early on, well before people would get this sort of email circulating.
As Colin said, if its from an unknown source delete it. Unfortunately you will often receive these from well meaning family and friends who are following the instructions to mail to as many as possible.
Regards,
Ian
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