Dear Facebook user, if you have been seeing this message in your timeline lately, here’s what you must do:
(1) Don’t panic.
(2) Raise a skeptical eyebrow. It’s okay.
click to enlarge
The text reads:
!!!!!!!!!! RED ALERT for YOUR COMPUTER !!!!!!!!!!
Please circulate this notice to your friends, family and contacts!
In the coming days, warning: do not open any message with an attachment called Archive (Windows live) regardless of who sends you. This is a virus that burns the entire hard disk. This virus comes from a known person you have in your mailing list, which is why you should send this message to all your contacts. If you receive a message called: “UPDATING WINDOWS LIVE”, even if it is sent by a friend, do not open it and stop immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus that ever existed. The virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee. and there is no chance of repair for this type of virus. Simply destroys Sector Zero of the hard disk. Just copy and paste..
“Please circulate this notice to your friends, family and contacts!” is probably the worst thing you could do in this case. This hoax may spread needlessly within Facebook (and beyond) and cause unnecessary panic to those who deem it as real.
This “Windows Live Virus” hoax is a variant of previous deceptive notices that dated back years before, as early as 2001 as our friends at Hoax Slayer have noted, when Facebook was still not around. Snopes has also documented a type of this hoax that you might want to check out.
As responsible users of social networking and media sites, it is important that we do some fact checks first before we share news, announcements and warnings to those reading our feed.
Stay informed!
Jovi Umawing
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