Re: Potential virus (fwd)
Sahithi P.S. (P.S.Sahithi@csc.liv.ac.uk)
Wed, 12 Mar 1997 20:41:35 +0000 (GMT)
Hello,
Thank you for forwarding this mail.
There have been a lot of widespread virus hoaxes and false alerts lately.
These are typically scare alerts started by malicious people - and passed
on by innocent users who think they are helping the community by
spreading the warning.
Bear in mind that a virus can only be activated if executed. In normal
situations, emails are not executed - there are also warnings whenever
attachments are opened.
Penpal greetings:-
This is not a virus, but a widespread hoax, warning about a dangerous e-
mail message titled
'Penpal greetings'. No such danger exists.
This hoax is very similar to Good Times.
(http://www.datafellows.fi/news/hoax.htm)
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An excerpt from http://www.ncsa.com/virus/penpal.html :
Name : PenPal Greetings !
Type : Hoax
Status : Circulating
**Note : As of yet, email messages can not execute themselves [Give em time]
.. Depending on your email package, attachments may be able to be executed,
or opened when clicked on depending on their content and your reader's
configuration.
--------------------------------------------
Care should be taken when circulating emails like this as they can
cause unnessasary upset to users.
Regards
Sahithi