The "Guts to say 'Jesus'" hoax first appeared late in 1998. It died out for
a while and has now made a huge resurgence. It is currently one of our most
common virus hoaxes.
There is very little that is new in this hoax; it is mostly rehash of prior
hoaxes (see Old Hoaxes Combined.) and this one falls into that category. I
initially hesitated to post a specific warning about this hoax because I
believed that readers of our hoax page would immediately recognize this is a
hoax because it contains so much text stolen from prior hoaxes but sadly
this isn't the case.
Note that only the beginning of this hoax contains some new text. But even
this "new text" fits into the old hoax pattern started by The "Good Times"
Email virus hoax. Where you are warned to avoid a virus by shunning email
with some particular title. It also contains the sure-fire hoax indicator of
asking you to forward this message to others. (If you see a virus warning
like this, you should disregard it.)
Here is the beginning of this hoax:
VIRUS WARNING !!!!!!!
If you receive an email titled "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus,'" DO
NOT open it. It will erase everything on your hard drive.
Forward this letter out to as many people as you can. This is a
new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it.
This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; please
share it with everyone that might access the Internet. Once
again, pass this along to EVERYONE in your address book so that
this may be stopped.
>From this point on, the hoax contains text from the old "Undelivered Mail"
hoax:
Also, do not open or even look at any mail
that says "RETURNED OR UNABLE TO DELIVER." This virus will
attach itself to your computer components and render them
useless. Immediately delete any mail items that say this.
Now the hoax tries to claim some legitimacy by referring to AOL:
AOL has said that this is a very dangerous virus and that there
is NO remedy for it at this time. Please practice cautionary
measures and forward this to all your online friends ASAP.
There is no such thing as a virus with no remedy. And yet again we see the
classic hoax sign; a request to "forward this to all your online friends".
Anytime you see this in an email, you can assume that the message is a hoax!
New Variation:
There is a recent variation on the above hoax that does some further appeals
to authority in an attempt to add legitimacy to the hoax. This version of
the hoax begins:
I have verified this from an internet hoax verification site.
This one is real..awareness is everything..
This one has been verified by GE corp IT group.
Please note that checking with a hoax site (such as the one you are on now)
will show ONLY the most common hoaxes. No site can list every hoax (there
are hundreds of hoaxes that never get wide distribution). The fact that a
hoax is not listed does not mean it's legitimate.
The hoax then continues along the lines of the original version:
It appears to be real. All Email users, If you receive an email
titled "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus'" DO NOT open it. It will
erase everything on your hard drive. Forward this letter out to
as many people as you can. This is a new, very malicious virus
and not many people know about it. This information was announced
yesterday morning from IBM; please share it with everyone that
might access the Internet. Once again, pass this along to
EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. Also,
do not open or even look at any mail that says "RETURNED OR
UNABLE TO DELIVER." This virus will attach itself to your
computer components >> >>>and render them useless. Immediately
delete any mail items that say this. AOL has said that this is a
very dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this
time. Please practice cautionary measures and forward this to all
your online friends ASAP.
Ron
00 PB SLT QC 4X2 5.9 46RE 3.92 LSD
For modifications see my DML Profile (URL follows)
http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/Kw9pV1EkFeOYY
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net]On Behalf Of Chris DeCrease
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 10:00 PM
To: DML
Subject: DML: Anyone heard of this??
> > > >
> > > >Subject: Virus - Urgent
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Very Urgent!!!!!!!
> > > >
> > > >PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR.
> > > >
> > > >If you receive an email titled: "It Takes Guts to Say Jesus"
> > > > DO NOT OPEN IT. It will erase everything on your hard drive.
> > > >
> > > >This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; AOL
> > > >states that this is a very dangerous virus, much worse than
>"Melissa,"
> > > >and that
> > > >there is NO Remedy for it at this time.
> > > >
> > > >Some very sick individual has succeeded in using the reformat
>function
> > > >from Norton Utilities causing it to completely erase all documents
>on
> > > >the hard drive. It has been designed to work with Netscape Navigator
> > > >and Microsoft Internet Explorer. It destroys Macintosh and IBM
> > > >compatible computers.
> > > >
> > > >This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about
>it.
> > > >Pass this warning along to EVERYONE in your address book and
> > > >please share it with all your online friends ASAP so that this
>threat
> > > >may be stopped.
> > > >
> > > >Please practice cautionary measures and tell anyone that may have
>access
> > > >to your computer. Forward this warning to everyone that might access
>the
> > > >Internet.
> > > >Darlene Watson
> > > >Human Resources
> > > >Best Buy Co., Inc.
> > > >(952)995-5384 Fax (952)430-4792
> > > ><mailto:darlene.watson@bestbuy.com>darlene.watson@bestbuy.com
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> ><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a
>href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com><br></p>
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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