Scams and Hoaxes

Scams and Hoaxes

Do any of these names sound familiar: A Virtual Card For You, Budweiser Frogs, Elf Bowling, Pen Pal Greetings, and Sandman? What do these have in common? They are all virus hoaxes. A virus hoax is usually transmitted in the form of an email stating that a new horrible virus is running amok and you'd better be informed, or else. The email usually ends with something like, "Send this to everyone you know."

Virus hoaxes can be almost as bad as real viruses. Many viruses and worms clog bandwidth, slow down servers, and clog networks. The Internet chain-mail hoax unintentionally may cause the same problems. Many times people receiving these emails, unknowingly send them to 20 or 30 -- or more -- people thinking that they are doing good. Actually, they're simply placing undo burden on the servers that must handle these emails.

If you receive an email claiming to warn you about the horrors of a new virus and asking you to send it out to others, it's probably a hoax - put the email where it belongs, in the trash bin.

Types of Hoaxes:

• Malware-related
  A malware-related hoax gives false information regarding certain threats. In most cases, these hoaxes are warnings of fictional threats that create unnecessary panic. These hoaxes prompt users into performing unwanted actions on their systems.
• Scams and Shams
  Scams and Shams include email messages that promise material gain or even luck to recipients who forward them to other users. Some luck-based hoaxes, often called chain letters, play on people's fear of bad luck. Money-based hoaxes offer incredibly quick cash for simply forwarding a message. Certain popular scams have tricked users into investing their own money in fruitless investments.
• Urban Legends
  Urban Legends are stories written around day-to-day things, but are incorporated with unusual twists in the form of unlikely facts that are difficult to verify. Designed to elicit emotional response, the most popular urban legends are health and animal scares.

Check the McAfee Hoaxes page for a complete listing

Top 10 Scams/Hoaxes from TrendMicro