Definition of Hoax Virus
A hoax virus (also known as a virus hoax) is a program or an Internet page that makes you believe that you have a virus and attempts to persuade you to buy a product to remove it. Sometimes virus hoaxes are also emails sent by people to simply cause panic.
Other People Are Reading
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Types
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There are two types of hoax viruses: one type will take you to a screen that will falsify a virus scan and tell you that you have a virus and the other type will come as an email message that warns about some non-existing virus.
How to Tell if a Virus Isn't a Hoax
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Viruses that aren't hoaxes run more in the background and will not alert you of any product that you must buy right away to remove it. They will simply make your system run very slowly (possibly, they might even slow down your Internet connection).
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Email Hoaxes
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Instead of relying on your inbox for the latest news about viruses, you should delete all messages regarding new viruses from your inbox and read instead from different antivirus companies' news feeds. The most reliable source of information lies within those companies that put forth a strong effort in combating viruses.
Example
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The AOL4FREE hoax happened just around the beginning of March 1999. It was an email sent across the Internet warning of a virus that can infect users and was undetectable by any antivirus programs.
Prevention/Solution
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To avoid having to worry so much about viruses, simply do not open any attachments sent from people you don't know, or suspicious ones sent by people you do know (i.e. they start talking in the context of the email like someone else).
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