June 24, 2007

Invitation (aka Olympic Torch) Virus Hoax

I received an email about a computer virus called the Invitation. The warning is as follows.

You should be alert during the next days: Do not open any message with an attached file called "Invitation" regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch 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, that is why you should 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 "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and 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.

There is no such virus. If you receive an email like this ignore it.

This urban legend has been circulating since 2000 and seems to reappear just in time for the olympics. It is a hoax.

Google it and you will see that it is in fact a sick joke created by someone with nothing else better to do with their time then to cause undo stress among the masses.