Beware Bofra virus!

I've gotten a lot of emails trying to get my PC infected with it - to no avail, I'm happy to report. They all purport to be from PayPal, saying my account had successfully been credited for $175, and I would soon be receiving the item I'd ordered. I have to admit this concerned me a bit the first time I saw it, and I was tempted to click on the link, but instead went to PayPal, logged on to my account, and checked to see if there was any reference to $175 in it. There was not. After I'd gotten several of these, I realized it was yet another email hoax.

The key is not to click on the link provided. That's what leads to PC infection, the BBC reports, taking you to the Web site that turns your computer into a zombie the operators can manipulate remotely. "Essentially, Bofra turns infected machines into small web servers that happily dole out copies of the virus." Besides PayPal, the virus email also poses as a porn provider, saying its links are to a porn site, the BBC adds. This virus is tricky, too, because it doesn't carry infected code with it and thus can get past a lot of anti-virus software. Tell your kids: Don't click on any links in emails unless you're absolutely sure they're from people you know; if you're not sure, ask tech-savvy family members or friends!