04/16/1997 -
The following message was received on my Wide Area Network. The validity of this virus has not been proven, however, as with any virus, better to be safe than sorry.
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>>>DON'T OPEN E-MAIL NOTING "AOL4FREE"
Good Security Practice: If you receive an EMAIL from someone you don't know, don't open it.
A few hours ago, someone opened an Email that had the subject heading of "AOL4FREE".
Within seconds of opening it, a window appeared and began to display all of his files that were being deleted. He immediately shut down his computer, but it was too late. This virus wiped him out. It ate the Anti-Virus Software that comes with the Windows '95 Program along with F-prot.AVS. Neither was able to detect it. Please be careful and send this to as many people as possible, so maybe this new virus can be elimited.
>>VIRUS ALERT!!!
>>Be aware that there are letters going around that you have won free AOL until 1998... or AOL4FREE.. Please delete this file. It contains a virus that will wipe out your harddrive after you download and it excutes.
SUBJECT AREA OF EMAIL:
CONGRATULATIONS! You are a WINNER!
AOL 4 FREE - Get AOL For Free
SENDERS:
Matthews27 or VPVVPPVVP>>
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As a subscriber to the America Online (AOL) service for many years, this is not a practice of AOL marketing or advertising. At present, AOL is spending millions of dollars on television and radio advertisment to promote AOL. AOL software is available on one floppy diskette or on CD ROM. The current version of AOL is version 3.0 and this is usually promoted on ads and mail literature. AOL also sends free copies of it's wrapped in advertising literature via U.S. Mail.
As great a service it is, AOL has never been free. They do have a current price plan of unlimited access for $19.95 or other such special promotions.
Please use extreme caution if you receive an Email of this type. It is a potential dangerous virus wherein it may destroy the entire contents of your hard drive.
If you have any information regarding this virus, please send me an E-mail or post the information on the DP Mailing List. Any information provided is greatly appreciated.
Contact John Cabrera with any information.