Email Virus Hoax

There have been a few messages going around through email that are talking about deleting certain files from your hard drive because they are viruses. The latest is "Jdbgmgr.exe". This file is NOT a virus. The message is a hoax...

Think of it like this: You receive a letter from a friend in the mail. This friend knows as much about cars as you do. In the letter, your friend tells you to go out and have a look under the hood of your car. The letter says to look for anything that looks like a belt and take it out. "It'll wreck your car and it'll never work again", says the letter. In this kind of situation, I think most people would at least ask a mechanic about this letter.

We're beginning to see more of this kind of thing. Fake virus warnings like these are beginning to do as much damage as the viruses themselves. Deleting the file Jdbgmgr.exe actually damages your system and makes it difficult for certain programs to run properly.

It's really easy to not get fooled by this kind of thing - check it out first. Do a little search on the web using your favorite search engine. Look for the filename that the email is telling you is a virus. You'll almost certainly find a web page telling you that it's a hoax.

Other hoaxes have included telling you to "send this email on to 50 people and Microsoft will send you money" or "run this program attached to this email even though your anti-virus software will tell you it's a virus". All of these are untrue. If your anti-virus program says it's a virus - then it is a virus and Microsoft is not going to send anyone any money because a. they won't and b. there's technically no way to track emails like this.

If you have any questions about anything that gets sent to you through email, we'd be happy to answer them.