I've had this suggestion sent to me also but ... This really won't help, because the person that wrote this originally is assuming that the virus will use the existing email programs to spread the virus. When in fact the virus programs usually process and send the email themselves, so there would never be an error, even if the email address is invalid. Viruses usually have their own tools to process and send the email, which would obviously suppress any errors. There is a slight spin to this suggestion that would work sometimes. If you added a contact, with the email address: virussentmexxx55@hotmail.com, it is possible that the message will get bounced back by hotmail and appear in your inbox as an undeliverable message. However, this is not always fully effective either, as the virus program could be smart enough to test the validity of the email address before it attempts to send it. Cari in CA P.S. Some good mail servers scan for viruses so that they never even come to your inbox. I have updated McAfee here, but never needed it in this case since it never even made it to my computer. ----- Original Message ----- From: <Bex400000@aol.com> To: <AMXROADS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2001 7:24 AM Subject: Re: [AMXROADS] Virus > In a message dated 10/6/01 3:30:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > cmacdee@excite.com writes: > > > Dear Carolyn....I recived this from one of my other Lists, and I hope it will > help all....it did work for me.....Becky > > Recently a friend sent me the following and since then I have > circulated it to a number of friends who say it works. > No guarantee here folks but any help to stop worm virus attacks suits > me just fine. > > Information to stop virus. > > Here's a computer trick that's really ingenious in its simplicity. As > you know when/if a virus gets into your computer it heads straight for > your Email address book and sends itself to everyone in there, thus > infecting all your friends and associates. This trick will not keep > the virus from getting into your computer but it will stop it from > using your address book to spread further and it will alert you to the > fact the worm has gotten into your system. Here's what you do; > 1) First, open your address book and click on "new contact" just as > you would do if you were adding a new friend. > 2) In the window were you would type your friend's first name type in > !000 (that is an exclamation mark plus three zeros) > 3) In the window below where it prompts you to enter the new email > address type in Worm Alert. > 4) Complete everything by clicking "add", "enter", and "ok". > > Now here is what you have done and why it works: the name !000 will be > placed at the top of your address book as entry #1. This is where the > worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends. But - > when it try's to send itself to !000 it will be undeliverable because > of the phoney Email address you entered (Worm Alert). If the first > attempt fails (which it will because of the phoney Email address), the > worm goes no further and your friends will not be infected. The > ***second great advantage*** of this method is that if an Email can > not be delivered you will be notified of this in your INBOX almost > immediately. Thus if you get an Email telling you that an Email > addressed to Worm Alert could not be delivered you know right away > that you have a worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to > get rid of it. Pretty slick. > Friends have tested it and say it works just fine. > > > > > > > > > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library >