Hoax Email Nuisance

Received an email with this message:

WARNING

You should be alert during the next days: Do not open any message with an attached filed 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. SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW, COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US

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Checked the veracity of the email since i would not want to alert my friends over a hoax email, and true enough i was able to get this results:

Status:
False

Update:
A new version of the hoax email falsely claims that the information in the message has been verified by Hoax-Slayer.com and Snopes.com (details below).

Update:
February 2008 - Yet another version claims that an email with an attachment entitled "POSTCARD" will destroy the hard drive of the infected computer.

Commentary:
This "warning" message claims that an email with an attached file named "Invitation" contains a virus that will destroy the hard drive of the infected computer. According to the message, the attachment opens an "Olympic Torch, which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer". However, the claims in the message are untrue. The message is simply a rehashed version of the long running Virtual Card for You virus hoax (see example below) and should not be taken seriously.

An examination of the two messages reveals that they share very similar wording and attempt to perpetrate the same falsehoods. Both hoaxes claim that the information has been announced by CNN, which is untrue. There is nothing on the CNN website about a virus like the one described in the message. Both also claim that the virus has been classified by Microsoft as "the most destructive virus ever" and that the virus "destroys the Zero Sector" of the infected hard drive. These claims are unfounded.

There is no mention of such a virus on any of the major anti-virus company websites other than articles debunking the "warning". McAfee, the company named in the message, dismisses the warning as a hoax.

If you receive this hoax message, please do not forward it to others. Virus hoaxes such as this one do nothing more than clutter inboxes and spread misinformation. If you receive a virus warning via email, always take the time to check the veracity of the message on a reputable anti-virus or anti-hoax website.
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So there, no cause for alarm and for humiliation from spreading a hoax email and cluttering inboxes of your friends. But like i always say with the power of the internet anything is possible ...but let us be wary of the things we forward as well.