I received the following from a co-worker, and it has 'urban legend'
written all over it. First of all, for those who aren't using it, Win 95
does not come with an anti-virus. And I would be surprised if one user
was running two anti-virus programs simultaneously. I do not know of any
way to send an email message to a Win 95 client that would just execute
when the message was opened. I would think that it would take sending an
executable as a clickable icon. And if you wrote a Trojan horse, would
you actually tell someone what you were doing as you were doing it, or
would you wait until you were done, if you told them at all?

Does anyone out there know if this is for real, or if it has been
confirmed as nonsense? I have to wonder if AOL has a promotion, and
someone is trying to scuttle it.

"It is essential" that such nonsense be nipped in the bud.

The attachment RFC822.TXT was no longer an attachment when I received
it, if it ever was. Needless to say, attachments in messages like this
make me be just a bit more cautious...

<snip>
>          VIRUS ALERT - DELETES ALL FILES ON HARD DRIVE!!!!!
>______________________________ Forward Header
>__________________________________
><snip>
>Please read the following messages.  There are some serious virus files being
>distributed through the internet.
>
><snip>
>
>        Please forward to all TL/MGR's.
>
>______________________________ Forward Header
>__________________________________
><snip>
>
>Anyone who receives this must send it to as many people as you can.  It
>is essential that this problem be reconciled as soon as possible.  A few
>hours ago, someone opened an E-mail that had the subject heading of
>"AOL4FREE.COM".
>
>Within seconds of opening it, a window appeared and began to display all
>his files that were being deleted.  He immediately shut down his
>computer, but it was too late.  This virus wiped him out.  It ate the
>Anti-Virus Software that comes with the Windows '95 Program along with
>F-Prot AVS.  Neither was able to detect it.  Please be careful and send
>this to as many people as possible, so maybe this new virus can be
>eliminated.>>
>
>DON'T OPEN E-MAIL NOTING "AOL4FREE"
>
>
>VIRUS ALERT!!!
>Be aware that there are  letters going around that you have won free Aol
>until 1998....or  AOL 4 free......  PLEASE DELETE...... contains a virus
>that will wipe out your harddrive...... after you download and it
>executes..... SUBJECT AREA OF EMAIL....... CONGRATULATIONS! You are a
>WINNER!  SUBJECT AREA OF EMAIL.......AOL 4 Free - Get AOL For Free
>SENDERS................................Matthews27 or VPVVPPVVP
>
>WARN YOUR FRIENDS!
>
>The following is an attached File item from cc:Mail.  It contains
>information that had to be encoded to ensure successful transmission
>through various mail systems <<RFC822.TXT>>.  To decode the file use the
>UUDECODE
>program.
>--------------------------------- Cut Here ---------------------------------
>
>
>