Another Urban Legend: Invitation Facebook Virus

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CONTACTS!

In the coming days, you should be aware.....Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK , regardless of who sent it.

It is a virus that opens an OlympIc torch that burns the whole hard disc C of your computer.

This virus will be received from someone you had in your address book. That's why you should send this message to all your contacts. It is better to receive this email 25 times than to receive the virus and open it..

 This came in our mail today, so naturally I researched it. These always seem to come with a link to Snopes saying they claim the report is true. I checked the link in the letter and it refers us to a completely different virus that was true*, but not so the email they quote:

If you receive an email called: Invitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend, do not open it and delete it immediately. It is the worst virus announced by CNN.
 A new virus has been discovered recently that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
It is a Trojan Horse that asks you to install an adobe flash plug-in. Once you install it, it's all over. And there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information of their function is saved.
SNOPES SAYS THIS IS TRUE
*http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/facebook.asp

Bing

Snopes calls it a hoax, but their site will not permit cutting and pasting their text.


TruthorFiction reports:

The Truth:  Update 09/22/11: A new version of this warning has begun circulating about the popular network site Facebook saying that the Invitation will burn the whole hard disc on computer C: drives.
Update 04/05/10: A new version of this fictitious virus warning is back in circulation saying not to open any attachment called "Black in the White House."   This virus warning, which originally began circulating at the opening of the 2006 Winter Olympics in February, is a hoax.  There is no such virus.
One of the clues that the eRumor is a hoax is that it borrows language from another classic virus hoax.  The reference to CNN, the description that Microsoft has classified it as "the most destructive virus ever," the contention that it was discovered "yesterday" by McAfee, and the reference to the "Zero Sector" of the hard disc are all wording borrowed from a classic Internet virus hoax about "A Card for You."updated 09/22/11

So these are old, but they keep going around in a modified form as you can see in the above text, which came in my mailbox today. TD