Warning - Bud Frogs = Virus

Thomas Linton

Thomas Linton

Joined
Jun 16, 2003
Messages
20,200
I have just been warned that an email message sending out a cute Budwiser frogs screen saver carries a bad virus.
 
Per Snopes:



http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/budfrogs.asp


Budweiser Frogs


Virus: Budweiser Frogs screensaver (aka BUDSAVER.EXE)

Status: Hoax.

Examples:

[Collected on the Internet, 2005]

READ ASAP...DO NOT DELETE...VERY IMPORTANT

READ IMMEDIATELY AND PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW !

Someone is sending out a very cute screensaver of the Budweiser Frogs.

If you download it, you will lose everything! Your hard drive will crash and someone from the Internet will get your screen name and password!

DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!

It just went into circulation yesterday.

Please distribute this message. This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning from Microsoft. Please share it with everyone that might access the Internet.

Once again, Pass This Along To EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. AOL has said that this is a very dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time.

This is VERY important. If you receive a screen saver from a friend or anyone you may not know with the Budweiser Frogs in it, DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT OR OPEN THE FILE!

Press the forward button on your email program and send this notice to EVERYONE you know. Let's keep our email safe for everyone.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Collected on the Internet, 2000]

DANGER!!! VIRUS ALERT!!! THIS IS A NEW TWIST. SOME CREEPOID SCAM-ARTIST IS SENDING OUT A VERY DESIRABLE SCREEN-SAVER {{THE BUD FROGS}}. IF YOU DOWN-LOAD IT, YOU'LL LOSE EVERYTHING!!!! YOUR HARD DRIVE WILL KERBLAM..CRASH!!

DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!! IT JUST WENT INTO CIRCULATION ON 05/13/97, AS FAR AS I KNOW!!

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS WARNING TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Collected on the Internet, 1999]

Someone is sending out a very cute screensaver of the Budweiser Frogs. If you download it, you will lose everything! Your hard drive will crash and someone from the Internet will get your screen name and password! DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! It just went into circulation yesterday. Please distribute this message.This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday morning from Microsoft. Please share it with everyone that might access the Internet.

Once again, Pass This Along To EVERYONE in your address book so that this may be stopped. AOL has said that this is a very dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time.

Origins: All the different versions of "Budweiser Frogs" screensaver warnings like the ones quoted above are hoaxes that just keep on giving: The "virus" they describe is not new, malicious, or even real, yet these warnings have been making the rounds of inboxes nearly non-stop since at least early 1999. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a widely-circulated virus matching the one described in these warnings

Additional information: Budweiser Frogs
(Symantec Security Response)
Budweiser Frogs
(McAfee Virus Information Library)

Last updated: 3 August 2005


The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/budfrogs.asp
 
Cross-posting.

I just did a Google search and this is probably a hoax.



Still, why would anyone down-load ANYTHING from an unknown source?



And wouldn't this be a great way to spread a virus?
 
Any and all attachments that enter my mailbox are (at the very least) subjected to a virus scan. If they came from someone who I don't know - or even someone that I do know, but wasn't expecting an attachment from - they get deleted, period. (Yvsa is of course exempt from this, as I'm surprised when there isn't an attachment.)

Anything (including movies, music, etc.) that gets downloaded onto my computer from a trusted site gets a virus scan. If it's not a trusted site, I don't download from it. Period.

Virus-free for three years and counting. Spyware's another matter but tightening up the security settings on my browser and using Spybot S&D have minimized the problem.
 
We got something like this at work a few years ago.
Somebody who was allowed to send E-mails addressed to "ALL" on the network passed along a virus warning to "ALL."
It said that a sneaky new virus was out there, & we should search for a particular file on our computer.
If we found it, we should delete it & then be sure to immediately empty our trash.
(anyone see where this is going ?)
A good doo-bee, I followed her instructions.
The next day, our computer center said "DO NOT FOLLOW HER INSTRUCTIONS.
THE FILE NAMED IN THE E-MAIL IS PART OF WINDOWS.
DO NOT EVER TAKE SUCH INSTRUCTIONS EXCEPT FROM US - ONLY."
A lot of us had to sheepishly have it re-installed.
Hmmm.... a virus that damages your programs, & can't be found by your anti-virus program, !!! :eek:
 
Bri in Chi said:
get a Mac
Bri ;)
Click to expand...

but i'd rather have a computer:D ain't hungry at the moment.

(besides apples make me break out in a rash. if anyone designed a worse operating system than MS, it'd be MacOS, it's safe because very few people actually know how to use it so it makes no sense to design a virus for it. if you can use one, great - more power to you & happy desk top publishing)

1. most of these emails 'from a friend' warning about a virus have been around for almost as long as i have - 99.99 % are hoaxes designed to overload email systems, cause panic and occasionally cause people to damage their own systems by deleteing system files. check snopes, symantec, and most AV software sites who normally have 'hoax' listings before panicing and emailing the chain letter on. if you are in a corporate environment, fwd it to your IT dept. and let them worry about it, don't spread it yourself.

2. people who recieve attachments to emails from strangers (or even plausable sources) and open them up without considering the impact are still one of the prime sources for virus infection. most AV software has some sort of email attachment checking built in. NEVER open an unsolicited email attachment unless you are darn sure who it comes from, and even then run it thru an AV check & expect to get zapped occasionally. another reason IT dept's hate webmail as it bypasses all their corp email AV systems.

3. downloading files from dodgy websites, usually the illegal file shareing/mp3 websites are another prime source of infection, caveat emptor. nowadays, just visiting the site could download something nasty onto your pc, spyware, trojans, worms, etc.

4. it's a scary world out there on the interweb, a bit like real life, except no kukhri's.
 
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