Sophos

Sophos blogs

Download Free virus scan - Download the Sophos Threat Detection Test

Amish hoax

Type
Virus hoax
Description

The text of this hoax is as follows:

 ***Amish Virus Alert***

You have just received the Amish virus.Since we have no electricity or computers, you are on the honor system. Please delete all of your files on your hard drive, then forward this message to everyone in your address book.

Thank thee.

Important

Many virus hoaxes:

  • falsely claim to describe an extremely dangerous virus
  • use pseudo-technical language to make impressive-sounding (but impossible) claims
  • falsely claim that the report was issued or confirmed by a well-known company
  • ask you to forward it to all your friends and colleagues

As usual, you are urged not to pass on warnings of this kind, as the continued re-forwarding of these hoaxes simply wastes time and email bandwidth.

It is possible that you may receive a hoax via email with a file attached. Obviously, such file attachments should be treated with caution as they may be virus infected. Sophos recommends deleting virus hoax emails, whether they contain file attachments or not.

Sophos suggests a policy to help prevent hoaxes from spreading in your company.