Yet Another Virus Hoax (or Two!)

It's an email message with the subject line "Australian Federal Police warning" which tells you to watch out for messages about Osama Bin-Laden having been captured or hanged. The warning says that if you receive one of these messages and open it, "your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it".

Of course, that's intended to get you worried. However, someone apparently thought it wasn't scary enough. So, just when you think the warning should finish, it goes on to warn you of something completely different: an unrelated virus that opens an Olympic Torch which burns your computer's hard disk.

This "Olympic Torch" hoax is as old as the hills, and I've mentioned it in several past newsletters. What I find amusing (and I did laugh my little socks off when I first saw it) is the way it's been stuck on the end of the Osama Bin-Laden hoax as if it somehow makes the whole thing more convincing. Two hoaxes for the price of one -- a bargain! Better still, you only have to press the Delete key once to get rid of them.
Rob Young,
Managing Editor,

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