Most Destructive Virus Ever! Beware of hallmark E-card
(Sorry - but this could be a hoax - there is a hallmark e-card that contains a virus doing the rounds - but it isn’t the most destructive ever - in fact if you have up to date anti virus and firewalls you should be okay. Still this does hilite two things - be careful opening mails from people you don’t know and secondly - NEVER listen to your father whan it come to anything involving a computer or the internet.)
I just wanted to let you all know of a very bad virus that is circulating the web. It will come as a mail from Hallmark and will probably say something like: You’ve received a Hallmark E-Card!, or Postcard from Hallmark.
Do not open any attachment with this message, regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus that opens a postcard image which burns the whole hard disc of your computer. The virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. If you do receive it - delete the message immediately and shut your computer down.
It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. As yet there is no repair for the virus. It simply destroys the zero sector of the hard disc, where the vital information is kept.
I received it yesterday and opened it like the fool i am. Thankfully i didn’t click on the attachment.
Apart from the people who have received it - i feel sorry for Hallmark - especially around the christmas season, when you would expect this type of business to be booming. The mail in question will say the card is from a friend, wheras with Hallmark, you will always be told Specifically who the card is from.
James
“…It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever…”
Give some links from specialized sources.
I did and I don’t see any virus alert in the main anti virus sites.
I believe this particular “worst virus ever” incident was a hoax. That’s not to say there aren’t viruses involving greeting cards or even greeting cards bearing the Hallmark name, however I’m unable to find any information from reliable sources which confirms this information to be true and many sources are claiming it to be a hoax.
I don’t think Microsoft would classify such a virus as the most destructive ever — perhaps the most destructive to one’s hard drive, however there have certainly been more destructive viruses in the past.
You message about being careful when opening attachments (or clicking links) regardless of who the message appears to be from is a good one however.
Guys - i received the message yesterday - i didn’t click on the link and have now deleted it. My father then sent me a warning about the exact message i received. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Reece you may have a point though. - I took a look on Snopes.com and there actually was a Hallmark virus found in April 08. So it’s a good idea to keep your computer up to date, keep AV, Anti-Malware and Firewalls up to date and you will hopefully be ok.
The below link can shed more light on the situation:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp
It is actually just a chain email. Greeting cards to carry viruses have been around for a long time and is an old human engineering trick. Snopes and other such sites tell you that it is a hoax chain email and that there is no super potent virus going around. This email has been circulating in various forms for years now. It seems to have undergone another burst of activity in Nov. with people forwarding it around.
As was said, whether hallmark or others, greeting e-cards from people you dont know are always suspect and spammers use them as well as other tricks to get you to open them and click. Scaring people even if there is no super virus is not necessarily a bad thing since it may prevent someone getting duped.
Barry, that’s a very good point.
No doubt plenty of phishing scams will be pulled this holiday season, so whatever helps people expect the unexpected is always welcomed