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Postcard Virus

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Threat: Postcard Virus
Circulating since: February 2008
Also known as: Post Card Virus
Type: Hoax

While it is true that there was a virus that appeared in the summer of 2007 with a subject line of, "You’ve received a postcard from a family member," as well as several other variations of the subject line that talked about a "card" or a "greeting card," these viruses had nothing to do with this false warning about "A card for you" or "A virtual card for you."

Although there are viruses that disguise themselves as postcards, they are no more a threat now then they were 5 years ago. As always don’t open any strange ".exe" files or attachments from people you don’t know.

Subject: Dangerous virus - check it out!

Hi All,

I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus! I checked snopes.com, and it is for real!! Also, check for other virus subject lines at:
www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp

Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP.PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!

You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled ‘POSTCARD,’ regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, 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. This is the reason why you need to 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’ POSTCARD,’ even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! 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.

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

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