Bill Gates sharing his fortune email (instructions included)

Automated PC Solutions

VACM - Virus Alerts for the Common Man

"Bill Gates sharing his fortune" email (instructions included)

Greetings from The VACM Team,

In This Issue:
----------------------
- "Bill Gates sharing his fortune" email (instructions included)

People wishing to subscribe to the VACM Alerts may do so at:
Subscribe to Virus Alerts for the Common Man

BONUS HOW-TO MOVIE!
You have SpyWare on your system! Download our How-To
movie for a simple way of removing SpyWare from your PC (see
the "Tip Of The Day" section below for the download link).

***************************************************
* The Bottom Line...
***************************************************
This email typically arrives with a subject line of:

FW: PLEEEEEASE READ or

FW: PLEEEEEASE READ (it was on the news)

The story, according to the email, is supposedly given
credibility by mentioning that it was from a lawyer who
thought he'd give it a try because there was nothing illegal
about it, and how he ended up getting checks for huge sums
of money. Truth is, there was no lawyer, there were no
checks.

The contents of the email tries to convince recipients that
Microsoft has implemented some sort of email tracking technology
in order to credit everyone who sends this email to all their
friends and thereby pay them big bucks for doing so.

While it is certainly true that email tracking can be done,
and is done on a regular basis by many marketing companies
(READ: JUNK MAIL) which is why you end up on so many email
lists that send you junk mail, it is totally not true that
Bill Gates is going to give anyone any money. A similar
hoax made the rounds a while back claiming that AOL & Time
Warner were going to pay everyone big bucks by forwarding
the hoax email to everyone they know, also.

Bottom line is that this hoax is designed to simply clog up
all the email servers around the world, and give the
perpetrator of this hoax his "jollies" as he sees how many
folks actually followed the hoax email's instructions.

And so, the "Bill Gates sharing his fortune" email continues
to make the rounds. And it's been going around the net
for quite a few months, now.

***************************************************
* What You Should Do
***************************************************
Delete the email and do not forward it to anyone.

As mentioned, this email is a complete SCAM.

Read all about it here:
Microsoft/AOL email tracking

and view this site for hoax info in general:
FW: FW: FW: Hoax article

Please remember-

-if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

-if you want to check whether something is a scam, bookmark
these sites:

Virus Alerts for the Common Man home page

Scams and Other False Information

BTW, one of the worst recent scams in recent history involves
a money-laundering scheme purporting to be from a high
government officeial in Nigeria (or other countries in the
hoax's various other forms).

Many, many people have lost thousands of dollars by falling for
this one, and in several cases, people were actually murdered.

EDUCATE yourself about email and internet hoaxes. Take a look
at some of the other serious hoaxes VACM has reported in the past.
Notice how they use "social engineering" to make themselves appear to
be completely valid and true. Each of these links will open the
article in a new window so you can go through the list quickly without
having to hit your browser's Back button:

Virus Warning allegedly from Microsoft
hoax urges to delete "JDBGMGR.EXE" and "SETDEBUG.EXE"
"Poison Perfume samples" email warnings
"Life Is Beautiful" virus deletes all your files?
Phony email from Microsoft is a Worm
VIRUS ALERT- It Takes Guts To Say Jesus!
"Osama vs Bush Virus" hoax is going around...
"!000" cure for Outlook viruses is a sham...
Federal Bill 602P, $.05 email tax, HOAX

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Tip of the day...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+
+ Your system has SpyWare on it, sending your credit card
+ info, usernames, passwords and other "private" information
+ to people you do not know!
+
+ The VACM team has created a How-To movie that shows you
+ exactly how to get the SpyWare off your systems and keep
+ it off.
+
+ Download the movie here:
+
+ http://apcsnh.com/vacm/spywaremovie.htm
+
+ This will download a 20MB self-extractor to your system.
+ Simply save the file to your desktop or other folder,
+ then double-click on it to run it.
+
+ Follow the instructions in the movie and get the SpyWare
+ OFF your system! You will be amazed at how much spyware
+ is on your system, if you are like 99% of our clients.
+
+ REMEMBER: SpyWares are not Viruses. Your antivirus
+ software will NOT keep your system free of SpyWare!
+
+ Please send questions or problem reports to vacm@apcsnh.com
+
+ *****************************************
+ *** Got a valuable tip you'd like to share with our VACM
+ *** subscribers? Send it to us at mailto:vacm@apcsnh.com.
+ *** If we publish your article in a VACM Alert, we will
+ *** send You a FREE Gift- our new "Virus Secrets II - System
+ *** Hardening Guide" on CD-ROM. VS2 is our new, illustrated,
+ *** step-by-step guide to hardening your system against the
+ *** new breed of viruses. Why do you need it? Because
+ *** these days, antivirus software alone does not
+ *** protect you 100% !!
+ *****************************************
+
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Best Regards,
Marc Deschenes, VACM Editor
The VACM Project at
Automated PC Solutions

*** Be sure to check out the appendix at the end of this alert
if you are having trouble booting your computer into "Safe Mode".
The process is all spelled out for you there.

Why should you be very
concerned about Spyware?

Learn how to avoid Identity Theft and Windows corruption in this
free VACM Video:
VACM-tested #1 AntiSpyware Software

How did they steal my Identity?

Why do I get so much SPAM ?

Why is your computer
running so slow ?

Today, every PC needs just a few protection softwares. Find out what and why. Visit our Links Page to avoid Indentiry Theft and costly computer repairs.
VACM Links to Protection Tools and Softwares

Keep your PC Safe and
Avoid a costly trip to the shop...
with these VACM approved tools.

You need 3 things to protect your PC(s) automatically. Use these links to go directly to the Download and Purchase pages:

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******** APPENDIX - Handy How-To Tips **********

* How To Boot into Safe Mode

Shut the computer down so that the power is off.

Turn the computer on, wait 1 second and begin pressing the F8 key
on the keyboard, once every second repeatedly. Do this until
the Windows Startup Menu appears. If you get a keyboard
error, press F1 to resume and then continue pressing the
F8 key once every second, or your PC may tell you to press another key for BIOS setup.

Select Safe Mode from the Windows Startup Menu, then press
the Enter key on the keyboard.

Windows will then boot into Safe Mode.
NOTE: This may take longer than a normal boot.

At the end of the boot process a dialog box will appear
informing you that Windows is in Safe Mode. Click OK on this dialog box.

Windows is now in Safe Mode.

If you miss hitting the F8 at the right time, Windows will boot
normally and you will not see the "Safe Mode" message. In this
case, start from the top of these instructions until you get the
boot menu screen where you can choose "Safe Mode". This can be
a little tricky the first time you do it.

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