Viruses and Trojan programs must have code that is executed in order to infect. Identifying a Hoax Virus hoaxes are often recycled with a few minor changes. Although you cannot prove a warning is a hoax without checking the facts, it is possible to spot tell-tale signs which indicate that it is a hoax. Basically, warning messages encouraging you to forward the information to all your email contacts will typically be hoaxes. Read such messages carefully and consider them critically, looking for inconsistencies, falsehoods, or violations of common sense.
Many hoaxes have nothing to do with viruses.
Instead they may promise the user something for free in return for forwarding the message. For more information about Internet hoaxes, check the ICSA Hoax Page or ZDNet's E-Hoax Central . Copyright 1989-2001 Trend Micro Incorporated. All rights reserved.