The Sophos helpdesk receives more calls about virus hoaxes than any individual real virus.
Virus hoaxes are false reports about non-existent viruses, often claiming to do impossible things.
Typically, hoaxes are emails which describe a dangerous new undetectable virus, usually using bogus technical terms. Hoaxes often ask you to avoid reading or downloading emails that have a particular subject line. Examples include Budweiser Frogs , It Takes Guts to Say Jesus , and Join the Crew . It then urges you to forward the warning to as many people as possible. Although no official research has been done on the subject, it is estimated that hoaxes can cost you even more than a genuine virus incident.