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".
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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,
