virus warnings & hoaxes

most 'virus warnings' are hoaxes

genuine virus warnings should contain the web address of a relevant anti-virus page

if you receive a virus warning which doesn't link to relevant info on an anti-virus page -

search at  http://www.google.com, using a unique phrase from the message in quotes "..."

or visit one or more of the following sites and search until the warning message is found -

About.com - virus list + hoax list + info + links
Data Fellows - see F-Secure
Electronic Ephemera - hoax list + search
F-Secure - virus list + hoax list + searches
Get Your Virus info Here - virus info and links
Hartmann - 'in the wild' macro virus list maintained by Joe Wells
Kaspersky - see VirusList
McAfee - see virus list
Panda - virus list
Probert - virus list
Sophos - virus list + hoax list + searches
Symantec - virus list + search + hoax list
Trend Micro - virus list + search
Virus Bulletin - virus WildList + prevalence + hoax list
Vmyths.com - hoax list + search + info

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most viruses come as an attachment to an email, so do not open or run unexplained attachments

as a rule of thumb, if an email has an unexplained attachment, delete it

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spam

"Spam is unsolicited e-mail (or news postings) pushing a point. Be it an ad for a used PC, or an urge to vote on a proposition; if you didn't ask for it, didn't sign up on a mailing list related to it, and didn't leave your e-mail address on a web form asking for more information on it, it's spam!"

most email programs, whether web-based (such as Hotmail) or resident on your computer (such as Eudora) have filters which can be set up to eliminate common spam

if you have filtering facilities, use them

some spam will escape your filters and get through to your inbox

as a rule of thumb, if the originator of an email's contents is unknown to you, ignore it

in most cases it's best to -

ignore all emails starting "This is not spam..."
ignore all emails asking you to forward something
ignore all emails requesting that you pass information on to others
ignore all emails advising you to send something, go somewhere, or contact someone
ignore all emails advertising sex, sex products or MP3 sites
ignore all emails recommending health products
ignore all emails containing advice from lawyers accountants and bankers
ignore all emails containing details of business proposals
ignore all emails containing '$', '!', 'cash', 'free' or 'money' in the subject line
ignore all emails with a subject line wholly or partly in capitals
ignore all emails offering you something for nothing

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visit the following sites for info on current hoaxes and spam, and how to fight back -

Break The Chain
Campaign Against Unsolicited Commercial Email
Chongqed.org
Death to Spam
Hoax Kill
Hoaxbusters
Internet Scambusters
Obliquity
Snopes.com
Spam FAQ
Spam Primer

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You turn the corner and come face to face with Dr Doom, Darth Vader, and a spammer.
You only have 2 bullets. What do u do?

Shoot the spammer twice.