Warning-Urgent

[jjenk02]

I just received the following from a friend, don't know if it is accurate or not, use as you see fit.. James

URGENT!!)

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. READ AND HEED.
I just verified this with Snopes and it is REAL.

PLEASE INFORM EVERYONE

Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and the
moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and you will
not be able to fix it!


If you get an email along the lines of "Osama Bin Laden Captured"

or "Osama Hanged" don't open the attachment.

This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe, but
mainly in the US and Israel.

Be considerate & send this warning to whomever you know.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:


You should be alert during the next days:
Do not open any message with an attached file called
"Invitation" regardless of who sent it.

It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard
disc C of your computer.


This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in
his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all
your contacts.


It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus
and open it.


If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do
not open it and shut down your computer immediately.


This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by
Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.


This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair
yet for this kind of virus.

This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the
vital information is kept.


SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

 

[Penmonkey]

I have got that in emails for the last two years. But I'm still not taking any chances.[8D]

 

[clewless]

Another urban myth...check out snopes.com for details

 

[wdcav1952]

James,

OBVIOUSLY you did not verify this on Snopes.com One minute to check urban myths before sending out a message such as this is time well spent.

 

[Oahunative]

James ... Thank you for thinking of others, valid or not.

 

[DocStram]

Originally posted by wdcav1952
<br />James,

OBVIOUSLY you did not verify this on Snopes.com One minute to check urban myths before sending out a message such as this is time well spent.

I agree with Cav. James, when you get this kind of junk just stay cool. Laugh at it ... then press that little ol' "delete" key.

 

[woodpens]

Here is the applicable snopes page:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/osama.asp
Status: Real but outdated

 

[jeffj13]

Frankly, warnings like this are a waste of time if you take a few simple precautios:

1. Have good virus protection software on your system.

2. Don't open any (and I mean any) attachments in e-mails unless you have asked for them or verified with the sender that they are ok. Attachments from strangers never get opened and I ask friedns and family members to call me first and tell me they are sending something. If they don't I typcally delete itwithout opening it.

jeff

 

[penhead]

Might want also to consider turning off 'auto-preview' on your email client (if you have it),
and also turn off using HTML (if you have it) to read email and use TEXT only.

 

[wdcav1952]

I have a friend who regularly sends me emails of this type. Hopefully I have trained him to check with snopes.com first.

Well-meaning people who blindly send on "email warnings" are only adding to email clutter.

As mentioned, a good virus protection program updated regularly and a spyware program should keep you safe. Don't open email attachments from strangers. I do have to say though, that asking friends and family members to call before sending email attachments is, IMHO, going just a touch overboard.

 

[jeffj13]

Originally posted by wdcav1952
<br /> I do have to say though, that asking friends and family members to call before sending email attachments is, IMHO, going just a touch overboard.

William,

Perhaps you are right. However, given that there are viruses that search a persons address book and send an infected e-mail to everyone that is on it, it is possible to get an e-mail from a friend that they did not send. Consequently, there is no guarantee that attachments from friends are safe.

jeff

 

[Rifleman1776]

Check them out yourself at Snopes or Hoaxbusters.
That is an old false warning.

 

[Mark4583]

Im the same way. I tell people if they send me somthing to be sure to put somthing in the subject box that I know its from you, otherwise I del everything else.
Tough enough keeping your cpu clean as it is, let alone takeing risky chances.

 

[jjenk02]

Sorry guys and gals, I had not heard about Snopes.com before. Lesson learned[:I]

 

[BigRob777]

Jim,
Thanks for posting that link. I bookmarked it for future use. Thanks anyway James, your heart was in the right place.
Rob

 

[airrat]

James its is an outdated threat. Snopes says REAL BUT OUTDATED. So at one time it was a real threat, if it was a Hoax Snopes would have said Hoax.

Sad that some have to always come down on others for looking out. I never understand why people respond with this better then thou attitude. Not one person here is any better then the next. So lets try to treat each other with a little respect.

 

[jeffj13]

Originally posted by airrat
<br />James its is an outdated threat. Snopes says REAL BUT OUTDATED. So at one time it was a real threat, if it was a Hoax Snopes would have said Hoax.

Sad that some have to always come down on others for looking out. I never understand why people respond with this better then thou attitude. Not one person here is any better then the next. So lets try to treat each other with a little respect.

Tom,

For the record, there was never any real threat, even with the original version of the Osama e-mail. The portion of the Osama message that talked about the Olympic Torch virus was always a hoax and Snopes says so. The portion that was true dealt with two trojan horse viruses that were easily dealt with by anti-virus software.

I don't believe that anyone here thinks they are better than anyone else. I just thing that most people are frustrated when incorrect information is allowed to propagate, especially when it is so easy to check out before posting.

jeff

 

[bob393]

Thank you.