Tools
Hoax Descriptions
Olympic Torch
The Olympic Torch hoax is representative of many virus hoaxes:
• Olympic Torch Description
Archives
The hoaxes listed here are fake or misleading alerts created by malicious persons in order to provoke alarm or panic. These hoax warnings are often forwarded by well-intentioned readers who believe the alert.
• Hoax Description Index
Note
We no longer actively index Internet hoaxes.
We generally only researched virus-related hoaxes. We do not evaluate whether non-computer related folklore stories are urban legends or true stories. For recent computer related urban legends, check snopes.com (external link).
Information regarding criminal scams and social engineering hoaxes can found on our Security Lab Blog.
Advice
Do not forward hoax messages.
Hoax warnings are typically scare alerts started by malicious people – and passed on by innocent individuals that think they are helping the community by spreading the warning.
Corporate users can get rid of the hoax problem by simply setting a strict company guideline: End users must not forward virus alarms. Ever. It's not the job of an end user anyway. If such message is received, end users could forward it to the IT department but not to anyone else.