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 The Hoax Virus 

Sadly there seem to be as many hoaxes as there are real viruses, and the disruptive effect can be the same.

The most common form is an e-mail with no attachment warning of a brand new virus. It will claim that it has just been found by (IBM, AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo.. pick two) and is so powerful it cannot be dealt with by the anti-virus programs. The biggest problem is that it may well have been sent to you be a known colleague or friend, who has genuine concerns, and so you take it more seriously.

You will be asked to do two things:

1. Tell everyone you know about it.

2. In some cases it provides a step by step guide to seeking out and then deleting the "virus", usually a (system) file called jdbgmgr.exe, which happens to have an unusual icon in the form of a teddy-bear (pretty suspicious).

Don't do either.

For a great source of information visit www.sophos.co.uk/virusinfo/hoaxes