Here is the lowdown on the "Wobbler" Hoax--from the About.com website:
NAME:
Wobbler virus hoax
ALIAS:
California virus hoax, Lets watch TV
virus hoax, Kali 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!
F-Secure 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!
There exists a mixture of Wobbler and How to
Give A Cat a Colonic hoaxes:
Subject: New Virus I have been informed of a
new virus - WOBBLER.
It will arrive on e-mail titled "How to Give a
Cat a Colonic."
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 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.
This information was announced yesterday
morning by IBM; please
share it with everyone in your address book so
that the
spreading of the virus may be stopped.
This is a very dangerous virus and there is no
remedy for it at
this time.
Another hoax version:
VIRUS WARNING a new Virus - WOBBLER is on the
loose. It will
arrive on e-mail titled "How to Give a Cat a
Colonic". 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 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. This
information was announced
yesterday morning by IBM. Please share it with
everyone in your
address book so that the spreading of the virus
may be stopped.
This is a very dangerous Virus and there is no
remedy for it at
this time. Please practice cautionary measures
and forward this
to all your online friends A.S.A.P.
There also exists a hoax message that warns
about 'Lets watch TV' e-mail carrying Kali virus. This is a close
variant of the original Wobbler hoax.
Please ignore these messages and don't pass them
on.
Camilla Flintermann, CG for Peter 81/70/55
Oxford, Ohio
http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/camilla/one.htm
<[log in to unmask]>
also, on PDWebring at http://members.tripod.lycos.nl/genugten/flinterm.htm
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