New Virus, Or New Scam?
#1
A virus has been passed to me by a contact in my address book. My address book has in turn been affected. Since you are in my address book there is a good chance you will find it in your computer, too. I followed the directions below and eradicated the virus easily.

The virus (called jdbgmgr.exe) is NOT detected by Norton or McAfee Anti-virus systems. The virus sits quietly for 14 days before damaging the system. It is sent automatically by messenger and by the address book whether or not you sent e-mails to your contacts. Here is how you check for the virus and get rid of it.

1. Go to your start menu on your desktop and click on 'find'
2. In the files/folders option, type the name: jdbgmgr.exe
3. Be sure to search your c: drive and all the subfolders and any other
drives you may have.
4. Click 'find now'
5. The virus has a teddy bear icon with the name jdbgmgr.exe
DO NOT OPEN IT!!!
6. Go to the edit (on the menu bar), choose 'select all' to highlight the
file without opening it
7. Now go to the file (on the menu bar), and select delete. It will then
go to the recycle bin.
8. Delete it permanently from the recycle bin!

IF YOU FIND THE VIRUS, YOU MUST CONTACT ALL THE PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK SO THEY CAN ERADICATE IT IN THEIR OWN ADDRESS BOOKS.


What do you think? I did a search for this file, and I did indeed find it on my HD. Is this some new virus, or just some scam? I'd like to know BEFORE I go deleting this file(s).

Edit:
Having checked the folder locations of this file (found in 3 seperate places on my HD), I've found it resides the OS system folders. Namely -
C:\WINNT\system32, C:\WINNT\system32\dllcache, and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM (for Windows 2000 / Windows Me, respectively). My guess? This is some scam thought up to act like a virus, forcing people to damage their OS by removing a harmless file. Since I don't run Me on my computer (and haven't for quite some time), the file found in my WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder is from a backup of my HD. Essentially, that tells me the file has been there for many MONTHS, and I have not had any problems whatsoever. My gut tells me this is a scam, but I'd like to know other people's opinions / experiences. And, if it IS in fact a scam, warn fellow friends / Diablo community members about this scam.

Edit 2:
Yup. It's a hoax. Apparently an old one, too. The file (jdbgmgr.exe) is a file associated with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). As I had suspected, deleting this file will cause some problems, although I doubt they can't be fixed by reinstalling the JRE. So, to anyone who recieves an e-mail concerning this, delete the e-mail and warn the sender of this hoax. And pelase, don't do as the e-mail says. ;)
Roland *The Gunslinger*
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#2
Usually any foward supposedly containing info about a virus is a hoax. Unless the source was reputable, but you know, people like to take advantage of people's fears. :unsure:

And honestly, eradicating a virus is usualy is not as easy as dragging in the recycling bin.
With great power comes the great need to blame other people.
Guild Wars 2: (ArchonWing.9480) 
Battle.net (ArchonWing.1480)
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#3
I'm glad you realized this was a hoax. I've seen this particular one sevral times and as you rightly pointed out it bears the hallmarks of a virus hoax. Basically anything that turns up in your inbox labled "Virus Warning" with advice to send to everyone in the contact list can be assumed to be a hoax.

For a comprehensive listing of these kinds of scams head over to McAfee's virus hoax page which does a good job to confirm any lingering suspicians (usually). ;)
Heed the Song of Battle and Unsheath the Blades of War
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#4
When you delete it, it only harms you if you are a hardcore Java programmer.

I read an article in the newspaper about it!
A plague of exploding high-fives.
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#5
E-mail lesson #1: No, that isn't a screensaver of Anna Kournikova
E-mail lesson #2: No, that file on your Hard Drive is not a virus
E-mail lesson #3: No, you will not get lots of cash from Nigeria

;)

-Leshy
"Reality? That's where they never e-mail you a Pizza!"
-Leshy, Pizza Lover Extraordinaire
http://www.leshy.net
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#6
Leshy,Feb 15 2003, 07:48 PM Wrote:E-mail lesson #1: No, that isn't a screensaver of Anna Kournikova
E-mail lesson #2: No, that file on your Hard Drive is not a virus
E-mail lesson #3: No, you will not get lots of cash from Nigeria

;)

-Leshy
"Reality? That's where they never e-mail you a Pizza!"
E-mail lesson #4: No, this <insert female killer-attributes here> didn´t send you that Email.
E-mail lesson #5: No, you do not want to enlarge _anything_
E-mail lesson #6: No, nobody hired that Email-service to send you a message to get in contact with you

sometimes I wish they would just stop it... It only eats up my time to delete all this... :(

/relurk :ph34r:

theBlind

on wings of destiny
through virgin skies
to far horizons I will fly
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#7
sorry - double post

theBlind

on wings of destiny
through virgin skies
to far horizons I will fly
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#8
Another giveaway that it's a hoax:

It's not detected by reputable virus scan programs, but you can find it by taking a quick look at your files. Hmm.
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#9
This is indeed a hoax. Last year, my university convenor got the same message (exact same file name too) and ended up emailing 600+ students telling them all to delete this file. Just as I was about to, he sent a follow-up telling us that he had just been informed it was a hoax.
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#10
edited
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