They compose an email that looks totally legit, and gives you all of these instructions on how to find the file and they even go into great detail on what the icon will look like, but they trick you by telling you that you are already infected and should delete it.

This jdbgmgr.exe file is necessary for some Java applets to run. It is not going to crash Windows if you deleted this file, but it is necessary for SOME applets to run. Luckily it is easily recoverable from your Windows CD.

Here are some things to remember about Hoaxes:

1. They will try and make the email look as official as possible. ie. CNN has announced that this is the worst virus ever!, Microsoft has issued a warning that this is the worst..., They will try and use names like that to try and sucker you in.

2. They will use phrases like "It will delete your entire hard drive", or "It will reformat you C:\ drive". I have NEVER and I repeat NEVER come across a virus that can do this. When people come up with one that can do this, then I will be scared.

3. Remember this, when you receive a REAL virus, the email will look very unusal and strange. You might say to yourself, "Man, I don't know this person, and why are they sending me this attachment?" If you ask yourself those question, DELETE it. If you have ever been infected with a virus you can probably think back to the time and remember the email. It probably had a very wierd subject line and then the body of the email didn't make much sense.

A last important rule:
If you think you have received a wierd email that you don't know the sender or the subject line and attachment don't make any sense. Then you should check out this website and do a search for a Hoax or a Virus. http://www.symantec.com

Please pracice safe computing.

Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Ardito on 22 May 2002 at 07:45 AM.]