Lump of Coal

Subject line of this email hoax virus:

Real Virus Warning.

Text of the hoax reads as follows:

Warning on December 25, 1999 you may receive an email called, Lump of Coal...do not open it, it contains a deadly virus...it will erase your windows along with many other program files. Pass this on as soon as you can to get the WORD out!!!This is not a hoax....this was reported on the CBS morning news August 20,1999.

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.