Postcard from Hallmark Hoax

This is an “old friend” in hoax virus warning land. It’s been doing the rounds for many years.  The email is designed to frighten you and turn you into a spammer, telling you to send it to all your friends. DON’T.

NEVER forward a warning to anyone without checking it on the internet first. This contains all the usual giveaways for a hoax – it will erase your entire C drive, worst virus ever, forward it to everyone you know, I’d rather receive this warning xx times than get the virus, etc, etc, etc.

Some versions claim they have been checked by Snopes.  Here is what Snopes say:

The original “Virtual Card for You” hoax (now often circulated simply as a “A Card for You”) has been making the rounds in various languages since at least 2000, with occasional changes to its text along the way. No such (incurable) virus existed, was identified by McAfee, was reported on by CNN, or “caused panic in New York.” This warning is, and always has been, a hoax.

There is a virus that can come in a fake email, pretending someone has sent you an ecard. It has nothing to do with this hoax warning. Snopes explain the difference better than I can, so here is what they say: 

Although the Postcard virus is real, it isn’t a “BIG VIRUS COMING” (it’s already been around in multiple forms for a long time now), it will not “burn the whole hard disc” of your computer, CNN didn’t classify it as the “worst virus” ever, and it doesn’t arrive in messages bearing a subject line of ‘Invitation.’

If you think your computer might have been infected by this, or any other, piece of alware, I recommend you scan your computer with Malwarebytes. Currently, this is the most effective piece of malware removal software. There are two versions.  A free version and a paid for version.  The free version is not proactive.  You need to open the software, update it and tell it to scan the computer.  This is very effective for any computer that has just one (careful!) owner.

For family computers I recommend the paid for version of Malwarebytes.  This is proactive, keeps itself up to date and actively protects you from infestations of malware.

And here’s that hoax:

Subject: VERY IMPORTANT – BIG VIRUS COMING !!! PLEASE READ & FORWARD !!! VERY IMPORTANT – BIG VIRUS COMING !!! PLEASE READ & FORWARD !!! You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled ‘POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,’ regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE – it ‘burns’ the entire hard disc C. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in t heir contact list. This is the reason why you must send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message multiple times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive mail called’ POSTCARD,’ even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. McAfee discovered this virus yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept. COPY THIS E-MAIL TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT ON, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US