"A Virtual Card For You" Virus Email: Hoax

Story:

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 filed 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, COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.

Other Versions

Recently a new virus was discovered that was classified by MICROSOFT www.microsoft.com and by MCAFEE www.mcafee.com to be the most damaging of all time! This virus was discovered late yesterday by MCAFEE and still there is no development of a vaccine! This virus simply writes zeros on the hard drive, where the vital information for the operation of the PC is kept. The virus activates in the following manner: 1. By email it is received with the title ‘A VIRTUAL CARD FOR YOU’, when opening the message, it sends itself to all in the address list soon… 2. It hangs the machine, forcing the user to reboot the system.3. AT the moment in which the keys ctrl+alt+del or the RESET button is pressed, it writes zeros to the hard drive making it unusable forever. By the previous information, please, take precaution with the use of electronic mail and, of course, if you receive an email which you do not know the origin of, simply delete it without opening. Please, send this message to the most people possible!!!!In a few hours yesterday, this virus caused panic in New York, according to CNN www.cnn.com.

Analysis:

These stories doing rounds online through emails warn users about a new, most damaging virus propagated through emails coming with a title “A Virtual Card For You” or a “A Card for You”. It is said that upon opening such emails, the virus attacks the user’s computer system process and makes the hard drive unusable forever. It is also said that the virus was identified by McAfee, Microsoft and was reported by CNN, and that the propagation of virus through emails caused panic in New York in few hours. The claims are not facts thankfully.

Emails about these ‘most damaging virus’ warning have been around since at least 2000, they also appeared in various formats and other languages as well. However, the fact of the matter is, no such virus warning emails titled “A Virtual Card For You” or “A Card for You” were announced by McAfee, Microsoft or CNN. These stories are similar to “An Internet Flower For You” virus warning emails that have been found to be hoaxes. Yes, the virtual card for you virus warning emails are simply hoaxes that can be deleted, they need not be forwarded.