The Earliest Email Virus Warning

>TO: Trojan Army Listserv < Trojans-L@troy.org
>RE: WARNING!! BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS!

Hey Hector,

This was forwarded to me by Cassandra--it looks legit. Please distribute
to Priam, Hecuba, and your 99 siblings.

Thanks,

Laocoon

> WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
> 
> IF YOU RECEIVE A GIFT IN THE SHAPE OF A LARGE WOODEN HORSE DO NOT
> DOWNLOAD IT!!!! It is EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE and will overwrite your
> ENTIRE CITY!
> 
> The "gift" is disguised as a large wooden horse about two stories tall.
> 
> It tends to show up outside the city gates and appears to be abandoned.
> 
> DO NOT let it through the gates! It contains hardware that is
> incompatible with Trojan programming, including a crowd of heavily armed
> Greek warriors that will destroy your army, sack your town, and kill
> your women and children. If you have already received such a gift, DO
> NOT OPEN IT! Take it back out of the city unopened and set fire to it by
> the beach.
> 
> FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
> 
> Poseidon

> FROM: hector@studmuffin.com
> TO: laocoon@doomgloom.edu
> RE: Greeks bearing gifts
> 
> Laocoon,
> 
> I hate to break to you, but this is one of the oldest hoaxes there is.
> I've seen variants on this warning come through on other
> listservs, one involving some kind of fruit that was supposed to kill
> the people who ate it and one having to do with something called the
> "Midas Touch." Here are a few tipoffs that this is a hoax:
> 
> 1) This "Forward this message to everyone you know" junk. If it were
> really meant as a warning about the Greek army, why tell anyone to post
> it to the Phonecians, Sumerians, and Cretans?
> 
> 2) Use of exclamation points. Always a giveaway.
> 
> 3) It's signed "from Poseidon." Granted he's had his problems with
> Odysseus but he's one of their guys, isn't he? Besides, the lack of a
> real header with a detailed address makes me suspicious.
> 
> 4) Technically speaking, there is no way for a horse to overwrite your
> entire city. A horse is just an animal, after all.
> 
> Next time you get a message like this, just delete it. I appreciate your
> concern, but once you've been around the block a couple times you'll
> realize how annoying this kind of stuff is.
> 
> Bye now,
>    Hector