GEN: Wobbler hoax

[Harry Willems <harryw@MIDUSA.NET>]

Once again one of our LM_NETERS posted a virus warning without checking it
out.  Here is what the Myth page has to say about it:

Found at:  http://kumite.com/myths/

F-Secure Hoax Warnings Pages


                     NAME:
                           Wobbler virus hoax
                     ALIAS:
                           California virus hoax


                    In 1999 there appeared a new hoax message warning about
Wobbler virus. This virus
                    does not exist. But there's a joke program called
'Joke.Win.Aloap' that is detected by
                    Solomon as 'Wobbling Trojan'. The hoax message looks
like this:

                     WARNING:  If you receive an e-mail with a file called
                     California, do not open the file. The file contains
the WOBBLER
                     virus.  This information was announced yesterday
morning from
                     IBM; AOL states that this is a very dangerous virus,
much worse
                     than "Melissa", and that there is NO remedy for it at
this time.
                     Some very sick individual has succeeded in using the
reformat
                     function from Norton Utilities causing it to
completely erase
                     all documents on the hard drive. It has been designed
to work
                     with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet
Explorer. It
                     destroys Macintosh and IBM compatible computers. This
is a new,
                     very malicious virus and not many people know about
it. Pass
                     this warning along to EVERYONE in your address book
ASAP so that
                     this threat may be stopped.

                    There exists another version of this hoax:

                     Subject: FW: WARNING!!! WARNING!!!
                     Importance: High

                     A serious virus warning folks. The following has been
confirmed
                     by F-Secure (Datafellows):

                     A new virus - WOBBLER will be launched in 7 to 10 days
time. It
                     will coincide with some presidential happening in Los
Angeles in
                     the USA. It will arrive on an e-mail titled
"CALIFORNIA". This
                     virus is announced to be more powerful and destructive
than
                     MELISSA and of course there is NO REMEDY as yet.

                     If you should open anything with title then kiss all
your hard
                     drive information good bye. It will also destroy Netscape
                     Navigator and Internet Explorer.

                     This information can be verified by AOL, IBM and
Datafellows
                     (old F-PROT).

                     PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY AND WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS
POSSIBLE.

                     Have a nice day!

                    Data Fellows has never confirmed the existance of that
virus.

                    Recently there appeared a new twist of this hoax:

                     A new virus

                     It will arrive on e-mail titled "CALIFORNIA". IBM and
AOL have
                     announced that it is VERY powerful, more so than
Melissa,there
                     is no remedy.

                     It will EAT all your information on the hard drive and
it also
                     destroys Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet
Explorer.

                     Do not open anything with this title and please pass this
                     message on to all your contacts and anyone who uses
your e-mail
                     facility. Not many people seem to know about this yet, so
                     propagate it as fast as possible!

                    Please ignore these messages and don't pass them on.

Harry Willems, Consultant
Southeast Kansas Library System


Harry Willems                   http://www.sekls.lib.ks.us/staff/willems
Consultant, Assistant Dir.
Southeast Kansas Library System
Iola, KS  66749         Fax: 316.365.5137       Vox: 316.365.5136

“We die only when we run out of footprints.
Then the biographers move in to retrace our paths,
enclosing them all in tall mazes of lumber
to make our lives seem more complex, more arduous,
to make our leaving the room seem heroic.”  --Billy Collins



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