Dear fellow web surfer:
If you have ever wondered whether those "Virus Alerts" you keep getting from friends are valid, I am going to help you find out.
Note that 99% of all "virus alerts" you receive by e-mail are HOAXES.
The only valid virus alerts you should worry about are ones you get from Microsoft, or any other major software or computer manufacturer. Or ones from any of the virus protections services that you might subscribe to, such as Mcaffee Antivirus or Norton Antivirus.
The best way to see if a Virus Alert is valid is to go to one of these two manufacturer's sites and check their list of HOAXES. I have NEVER found a virus alert to be valid and I am on the Internet as a web consultant 10 hours a day.
Here are the hoax sites. Just click on the links to go there. McAffee AntiVirus http://home.mcafee.com/virusinfo/virus-hoaxes?ctst=1 Norton AntiVirus http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
On these two pages, you can search by hoax name or likely spot the Hoax on the manufacturer's hoax list. A long time HOAX going around is the "It takes guts to say Jesus" Hoax.
If you have a virus protection software program on your computer, you simply need to go to the manufacturer's site and update your virus protection every week or so. Then you will be protected from virtually all viruses. Or, subscribe to a service from which you can get scheduled AUTOMATIC updates every few days or so.
Please do not waste your time or that of others perpetuating these hoaxes on the web by forwarding these hoax messages started by somebody that just loves to waste people's time. If you are in doubt, go to one of the above sites and see for yourself if the "Virus Alert" is real.
I bet that you never find even one that is. You might want to write down or save these links, or even most of my letter here, to send to someone the next time you get a Virus HOAX email.
As people learn the truth about Viruses they will stop forwarding these hoaxes.
Once again, the two sites for checking Virus Hoaxes out, instead of forwarding messages about them to others, are: McAffee AntiVirus http://home.mcafee.com/virusinfo/virus-hoaxes?ctst=1 Norton AntiVirus http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html --
Bill Koelzer Marketing & Internet Consultant Author, Columnist, Writer PH: 949-291-8892 FAX 949-487-6782 E-mail: Bill@Koelzer.com Web site:http://www.koelzer.com
