AOL.EXE virus alert

CATEGORY: Joke virus alerts (not considered hoaxes)

A joke "AOL.EXE virus alert" started making the rounds in early June 2001. Unfortunately, some users took it seriously; others twisted it into a hoax chain letter. This joke follows on the heels of the sulfnbk.exe mass hysteria and uses many of its tricks.

Warning: panicky users will disable their AOL software if they follow the joke's instructions.

This joke alert spawned from the mind of "Joke A Day" webmaster Ray Owens and went out to his mailing list on 5 June 2001. "It has been brought to my attention that there's an insidious new computer virus which has already affected close to 30 million computers," he humorously warned. (America Online serves roughly 30 million customers. Think about it.) He then described how antivirus software cannot detect the virus, and went on to say "I'm required by law to contact everyone that has received email from me in the last six months and warn them."

The joke then described how to "remove the virus," which supposedly will "fix a damaged 30 megabyte area of your hard drive and restore it to full functionality." It went on to say (in all-capital letters) "keeping this file on the system after June 8 will cost you $2.90 more per month! Failure to remove this file will keep your 'upper memory management' module of your intelligent quotient (IQ over 85) blocked. Deleting AOL.EXE will free your IQ to go above 85!!!"

The joke referenced a toll-free AOL phone number. Panicky users will terminate their AOL service if they call it and follow the joke's instructions.

We contacted Owens for more information about the joke. "It says right on the [Vmyths.com] website, 'did a genuine computer security expert send you the alert?' Who would seriously believe a virus alert on [the] Joke A Day [website]?" Still, Owens received emails which indicate some people didn't get the joke when they read it. (Or, more precisely, when they didn't read it fully.) Others got the joke and decided to spring it on their friends as a hoax.

Last updated: 2001/6/7