Hoax

Hoax warnings are typically 'scare alerts' started by malicious people and passed on by users who think they are helping the community by spreading the warning. The most common hoax is the hoax virus. This usually consists of an email message warning recipients about a new and terribly destructive virus. It ends by suggesting that the reader should warn his or her friends and colleagues, perhaps by simply forwarding the original message to everyone in their address book. The result is a rapid proliferation of pointless emails that can overload systems. Many hoaxes circulate through email, such as the Good Times hoax, which is probably the best known.

How can you identify a hoax?

• Technical-sounding language: For example, the Good Times hoax says that "...if the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop which can severely damage the processor...". At first, it sounds like it might be something real. With a little research, you find that there is no such thing as an nth-complexity infinite binary loop and that processors are designed to run loops for weeks at a time without damage.
• Credibility of the sender: Check whether the message is from an authoritative organization with credibility in this area, such anti-virus companies, anti-virus vendors, ISPs, or Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs).
• Check whether the warning urges you to pass it on to your friends and to as many people as possible.
• Check whether the warning indicates that it is a Federal Communication Commission (FCC) warning. According to the FCC, they never disseminate virus warnings.