Fighting malware and spam

Let's watch TV

The following is the text usually shown in the Let's watch TV hoax email. There may be other variations on a similar theme, as well as other language versions.

Hoax text

Subject: VIRUS ALERT!!

IF YOU RECEIVE AN EMAIL TITLED "LET'S WATCH TV" DO NOT OPEN IT. IT WILL
ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR HARD DRIVE. THIS INFORMATION WAS ANNOUNCED
YESTERDAY MORNING FROM IBM; AOL STATES THAT "KALI" IS A VERY DANGEROUS
VIRUS, MUCH WORSE THAN "MELISSA," AND THAT THERE IS NO REMEDY FOR IT AT
THIS TIME. SOME VERY SICK INDIVIDUAL HAS SUCCEEDED IN USING THE REFORMAT
FUNCTION FROM NORTON UTILITIES CAUSING IT TO COMPLETELY ERASE ALL
DOCUMENTS ON THE HARD DRIVE. IT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO WORK WITH NETSCAPE
NAVIGATOR AND MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER. IT DESTROYS MACINTOSH AND IBM
COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS. THIS IS A NEW, VERY MALICIOUS VIRUS AND NOT MANY
PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT. PASS THIS WARNING ALONG TO EVERYONE IN YOUR
ADDRESS BOOK AND PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ALL YOUR ONLINE FRIENDS ASAP SO
THAT THIS THREAT MAY BE STOPPED. FORWARD THIS WARNING TO EVERYONE THAT
MIGHT ACCESS THE INTERNET
	

VB reminds users: if you receive a virus warning message, do not forward the message to all your friends/colleagues, as it may suggest in the text. If you have verified that the message is a hoax, simply delete it. If you are unsure, forward the message to your IT administrator. Failing that, forward it to hoax@virusbtn.com. It is possible that you may receive a hoax email with a file attachment. Since it is possible that these attachments could be infected VB advises such files to be be treated with the same caution as any other unexpected message attachment and urges users not to open them.

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