From: sj@aracnet.com (Scott Johnson)

VIRUS WARNING!!! VIRUS WARNING!!! VIRUS WARNING!!! VIRUS WARNING!!!

Dear Internet user,

It seems that the destructive minds who like to invent computer viruses
have struck again. A new virus, popularly known as INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0,
has been propagating on the Net for several weeks now. MILLIONS of
computers have been infected by this insidious virus (mostly PCs, and a few
Macintoshes as well.) This virus is one of the MOST DANGEROUS yet unleashed
on the computing public!

INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0 is known to have the following horrible effects on
infected computers:

* It WASTES an incredible amount of HARD DISK SPACE, space which could
otherwise be used for productive applications.
* It causes the infected computer's performance to be DRASTICALLY
REDUCED--Pentium machines which are stricken are known to slow down to
the speed of a 486.
* It surreptitiously MODIFIES the underlying operating system, causing
the CORE FUNCTIONALITY of the instrument to change RADICALLY.
* It, through the use of Trojan-like ALTERATIONS to the core Java APIs,
may cause Java applets to MALFUNCTION. These effects are so SEVERE
that the designers of Java, Sun Microsystems, are taking LEGAL ACTION
against the inventors of this terrible virus.
* It, once installed, is VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE for the average user to
remove from the system.
* It is known to create SECURITY HOLES, which can allow unknown users to
DELETE or DESTROY files on your hard drive.
* It is known to cause many popular and reliable Internet browsers, such
as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR and NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR, to not function
correctly.
* It is even known to infect NEWLY PURCHASED computers coming from
reputable manufacturers like COMPAQ and DELL. These companies have so
far been POWERLESS to prevent this virus from being installed on the
computers they sell.
* It is known to be UNDETECTABLE by most virus-checking software
packages.

The good news is that the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT is currently investigating the
rogue hackers who CONCOCTED this destructive virus. They have been traced
to a Seattle suburb, and may face fines of ONE MILLION DOLLARS PER DAY for
the pernicious manner in which this virus is being distributed. The bad
news is that millions of computers have ALREADY BEEN INFECTED. The
inventors of this virus even have the gall to gleefully BOAST about this
terrible fact on their web site!

Here's what YOU can do:

1) If you see a website with the "Internet Explorer" logo, do **NOT** click
on the logo. This can cause this virus to be DOWNLOADED and INSTALLED on
your system!

2) If your computer is ALREADY INFECTED, and it's a Windows-based PC, call
the technical support hotline at Microsoft (the company which wrote
Windows), and ask them for instructions on how to DISABLE and REMOVE this
virus. They should have instructions to do so.

I apologize for the URGENT TONE of this message, but only if we WORK
TOGETHER can the spread of the dreaded INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0 virus be
slowed or stopped.

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