Just got sent by E-mail by IT DEPT, hope no one gets the virus

You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open a ny message with an attachment entitled “POSTCARD,” regardless of who sent it to you. It isa virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which ‘burns’the whole hard disc C of
your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail
address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to send
this e-mail & nbsp; to all your contacts.
If you receive a mail called"POSTCARD,” even though sent to you by a
friend, do not open it.! This includes all cards, too. 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. < BR>>This
virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for
this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard
Disc, where the vital information is kept

Please do not allow hoaxes such as that above to spread. If you hear of a new “virus” check it out first with a reputable AV company.

From the McAfee anti virus site:

(Quote)A Post Card from a Family Member Hoax

Overview
Avert Labs HOAX Notice!!

McAfee Avert Labs would like to inform you of an email HOAX.

This email message is just a HOAX, currently we know of no other message that the user will receive about the HOAX as the initial email states. AVERT has not received any report of a user’s hardware being damaged by receiving the email.

We are advising users who receive the email to delete it and DO NOT pass it on as this is how an email HOAX propagates.

Below is the actual text from the message that may be received via email.
A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive ever. This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee . This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital information for its functioning are stored.
This virus acts in the following manner:
It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title:
“You’ve received a Post Card from a Family member”.

As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened the computer freezes so
that the user has to reboot. When the ctrl+alt+ del keys or the reset button are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the hard disk. Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic in New York , according to news broadcast by CNN.

This alert was received by an employee of Microsoft itself.
So don’t open any mails with subject: “A Post Card from ” As soon as you get the mail, delete it !! Even if
you know the sender !!!
Please pass this mail to all of your friends.

Forward this to everyone in your address book. I’m sure most people, like myself, would rather receive this notice 25 times than not at All

These messages bear a strong resemblance to the messages associated with the ‘Virtual Card for You’ hoax.

All Information
Overview -

Avert Labs HOAX Notice!!

McAfee Avert Labs would like to inform you of an email HOAX.

This email message is just a HOAX, currently we know of no other message that the user will receive about the HOAX as the initial email states. AVERT has not received any report of a user’s hardware being damaged by receiving the email.

We are advising users who receive the email to delete it and DO NOT pass it on as this is how an email HOAX propagates. (End of Quote)

While this is a hoax, you should of course always be vigilant with any email.

this is not HOAX Notice beaware over next few days please be vigilant with any email. any good free Virus Removers will stop it
but again be beaware
jurdy

While you have passed on the email you received in good faith, the “Postcard Virus” itself is a hoax. The email you received has been doing the rounds for some years. If anyone wants to satisfy themselves regarding this or any other alleged virus, simply search for it on Google or look up one of the antivirus company websites (McAffee,Norton, Sophos etc). Most of these sites have their own Hoax section and Sophos even publishes a Top 10! As I said before, be careful with any email you receive but be aware that there are many hoaxes which quickly become a nuisance when warnings of them are passed on.

I usually use http://www.snopes.com to check things like this out. According to them, this one isn’t a hoax (I checked it out when I first read this last night)

please be vigilant with any email. any good free Virus Removers will stop it
but again be beaware
i am going unplug the the computer but i plugging in the girlfriend to night , but have to find her ! Ha ha ha

This all goes to show how careful one has to be and how confusing virus warnings can
be if you are not actually employed in this field. The virus warning posted by the
original poster is a hoax. For further info go to:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_postcard_virus.htm

which even includes a reference to the above poster’s reference to Snopes:

?IMPORTANT NOTE: Some versions of this hoax claim the information was “verified” on
Snopes.com. This is NOT true. There is verification on Snopes.com of a different
e-card virus threat with a similar name.?

Note that the email warning in the original post is the same as quoted on the above
site…and others.

Ultimately, you just have to be careful but we must try and stamp out the
propagation of hoax warnings so that we can see the real ones more clearly -  a
point iterated on the about.com site.

So I shouldn’t rely on Snopes either then. To be honest I usually treat these things as hoaxes until I’m shown otherwise

snopes is correct as are most sites like this…they’re just talking about a different virus/hoax. As regards opening attachments and clicking links you’d be safer to treat them as real ntil you know it is a hoax!!!

this is all a bit off a Spanish topic so to bring it back…great site. Used it for a long time and have now been living in spain for 10 weeks.

this is The Tapas Bar Thread last time i was in the bar there where chatting about lot this from Ladies to computers tv football and so on
jurdy