Warning out vs 'Olympic torch virus' hoax

As the Olympic Games went underway, computer users were warned Sunday against falling for a hoax about a so-called "Olympic torch" virus. Security vendor Sophos said recipients are urged to forward the email, which claims to be a warning for the "Facebook/Olympic Torch virus." "[But] by distributing this hoax widely, you may end up helping the bad guys - the very opposite of what you intended. So, please, think before you click. And if you're not sure, click 'delete,' not 'forward,'" it said. It pointed out the hundreds of email addresses accumulated by the email as it is forwarded several times may be open to harvesting by scammers and cybercriminals. Those email "might be scooped up by real malware, sent off to cybercrooks, and sold on to spammers and scammers," it warned. Sophos said that while the idea of spreading a hoax is already old, this particular one plays on high interest in the 2012 London Games. Quoting parts of the email, Sophos said the email urges recipients to circulate it to "friends, family (and) contacts." The email claims to warn of an attachment called "Invitation FACEBOOK," a supposed virus that opens an Olympic torch that destroys the computer's hard drive. It also warns of a new virus that claims to be an Adobe Flash plugin, but can destroy the hard drive. Sophos noted the email even said Snopes.com, a site that warns of hoaxes and urban legends, had claimed the "Facebook/Olympic torch virus" is true. But as of Sunday afternoon, checking the link given by the email on Snopes.com would show the opposite: Snopes says the Invitation Facebook virus is a hoax. "Ironically, the biggest piece of rot in the email is the claim that SNOPES SAYS THIS IS TRUE," Sophos said. — LBG, GMA News