Beware of Scareware: Meninas da Playboy

One of the most enduring email hoaxes is the Meninas da Playboy. Who knows how many millions of people, including those who do not know a single word of Portuguese, have received this ridiculous message through email.

Meninas da Playboy originated in Argentina more than a decade ago and takes its name from the email's subject line: "Meninas da Playboy." Translated into English, it reads: "Playboy Girls." You have to give the originator credit for choosing a time-tested, attention-getting subject line. The email claims that the icon of the personal computer world, Microsoft, has announced the spread of a fatal virus, originally found in Argentina, that is now circulating its evil payload around the world. Its name is BANCOC.VBS.

In order to prevent the meltdown of the planet's vast stock of personal computers, the recipient is warned that the virus allegedly forces users to save the file on their hard drives. The Meninas da Playboy email contains this message: "We need everyone's help to stop this virus. So far, no one knows the antivirus against it. McAfee and Norton also announced that this virus is highly dangerous. Be careful, it destroys your hard drive and erases Windows from your hard disc."

No spammer interested in protecting his reputation as one of life's most aggravating individuals would leave off the call to action, so the message concludes with the request to "send this email to all your friends." Along with that friendly touch, the message concludes with a polite, "Thank you for your time."

That is apparently the only payload this email hoax has delivered for ten years running – robbing perhaps millions of people of their time, and their friends' time, and so on, as each one in the chain receives the unwanted, useless email. Who knows how many recipients may have succumbed to the fear that perhaps their computer's hard drive is under attack, or has already been attacked? As a result, more time is wasted.

Some experts say hoaxes are more costly than real threats because antivirus software cannot detect a virus that isn't there, so the emails invade inboxes. These missives also cause panic, and some recipients may take actions that will cause them harm when they act out of fear.

Meninas da Playboy is known as scareware, and the name says it all. However, scareware may have one very legitimate, if unintended, benefit, and that is encouraging the recipient to take proactive measures to avoid becoming a victim of a serious malware attack in the future. Sophos.com offers a free feed on the latest virus alerts and hoaxes at < http://www.sophos.com/feeds/>.

To avoid scareware scams that try to gain access to your personal information, do not enter any personal data in any popup window, or on a website link contained within an email, until you absolutely confirm the validity of the email. You can do this by calling your bank or service provider using a phone number that you are sure is legitimate, and not one that is contained within the email.

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