Virus Warning: This one will Burn your Toast
There are literally hundreds of millions of pieces of email and messages clogging up mailboxes and messaging apps across the internet that are forwarded as messages to friends warning them about phony virus threats and the like. It’s getting so that people are forwarding completely crazy “warnings” that even threaten to burn your toast and wrinkle your clothes!
It is very commendable and a credit to our friendship when we warn each other of REAL dangers on the internet like scams, viruses, trojans, etc.
However, it is very important and our responsibility when we receive a warning ourselves to check it out before passing it on. There are quite a few hoaxes out there that tie up a lot of bandwidth and inbox space as well-meaning friends CC the warning to all their friends.
Regardless of how well intentioned you may be, if you forward a hoax virus warning to all your friends, you’re actually creating a big headache for a lot of people, almost as big as a real virus!
Here’s what happens whenever you send out a warning to all your friends without checking it, first.
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Your friends and all their friends and all their friends, etc., etc., get all worried, forward this to all their friends, and then a lot of them swarm the AntiVirus sites desperately trying to find out how soon the companies are going to come up with a “cure” for the supposed virus.
The AV company has to deal with all the wasted bandwidth, frantic emails, and support requests coming in to their site about something that, in fact, doesn’t even exist.
Furthermore, the number of emails that get forwarded grow exponentially as everyone forwards it to their friends. If you think this doesn’t matter, you’ve likely never had to look after a server! If too much traffic tries to come to a server at one time, the server shuts down. Trust me – I’ve had to fix this very problem before. It’s a huge pain in the sit-down.
To top it off, it these hoaxes are a spammer’s dream come true. I get a TON of these “forward it to all your friends” emails and Facebook notifications. The vast majority of people simply hit the Forward link, choose everyone in their contacts and then hit either CC or just SEND. This is done over and over again as the email or message is repeatedly forwarded, and guess what happens!?
All the names and/or email addresses of everyone who ever receives the message are being forwarded to an ever widening pyramid of people everywhere in the world! This means that the chances of a spammer getting hold of all these contacts increases exponentially every time the message is forwarded. Ever wonder why there’s so much spam?
To top it off, you’ve also greatly risked someone getting hold of the list who loves to send REAL malware while posing as one of YOUR friends!
Do not pass on warnings without checking the information out for yourself, first. You’re not doing yourself or anyone else a favor if it’s a hoax. Additionally, use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) function if you’re emailing out a real warning to all your friends. This hides all the other names and addresses.
Here are some links to put into a favorites file on your computer – perhaps name it, “Security” or something similar. When you receive a warning, check it out first and if you don’t find it listed at any of these sites as a hoax, only then pass on the warning.
Dave Cottrell is opinionated, compassionate, and passionate about people, marketing and online business. He does a lot of digging, experimenting and research, and writes like crazy about a wide variety of topics and subjects. He is the owner of many websites and blogs; you can read his rants and find out more about him at https://www.davecottrell.com/ This article can be shared freely as long as this box remains intact. Copyright © 2021 David H. Cottrell. All rights reserved.
