The consequences of getting hit with a virus can range from annoying to devastating. Sometimes, though, what you think is a virus isn't one at all. Often users will mistake unexpected computer behavior for the presence of a virus. The so-called Beethoven Virus is a good example. In a sense, you might say that these messages are viruses that infect the human brain rather than the computer.
All hoax viruses are essentially chain letters.
Ironically, many of the most common hoax viruses claim to contain information about other viruses. It is called the A.I.D.S. Virus. It will destroy your memory, sound card, speakers, and hard drive, and it will infect your mouse or pointing device, as well as your keyboard, making what you type not able to register on the screen. It self-terminates only after it eats 5MB of hard drive space and will delete all programs. It will basically render your computer useless.