A mentor asked me to review a chain-letter virus alert he received from a good friend. The subject line reads “Worst computer virus confirmed by Snopes.”

This particular chain letter traces to a non-expert at Sherwin-Williams. He received it from one of his colleagues at another firm, who received it from… Well, you get the picture. My mentor asked me (in so many words) an obvious question:

"Why should I trust a computer virus alert from a guy who makes paint?"

Come on — would you hire a computer security expert to paint your house? That’s not his field of expertise!

This chain letter warns everyone about a “Postcard from Hallmark” computer virus. The hysterical tone of the email is effective. This chain letter succeeds in spreading for two important reasons — it cites Snopes.com as a source and it gives you a link you can click on to confirm it.

You will find some hoax alerts that claim Snopes.com “verified” it. Always check out a chain letter’s “facts” before you believe it.

Let’s say you work at Sherwin-Williams. A good friend forwards a computer virus alert to you. He/she says Snopes.com confirmed the virus exists. He/she gives you a link to prove it. You click on the link and, sure enough, Snopes.com says “true.” So you forward it to your coworkers & friends as a random act of kindness—

—and then Sherwin-Williams winds up on Vmyths because their employee(s) spread hysterical chain letters.

I wrote back to my mentor with an obvious reply to his obvious question. “If the email actually includes a link to Snopes.com … and if that link actually points to the supposed virus alert … then yeah, it’s true. HOWEVER. You will find some hoax virus alerts out there that claim Snopes.com verified it.” Always check out a chain letter’s “facts” before you believe it.

To say “Sherwin-Williams makes paint” is like saying “the Pope is a Catholic.” It’s a big understatment. Sherwin-Williams makes a lot of different coatings for plastics, metal, and wood in the automotive, aerospace, construction, industrial, and maintenance coating sectors.

“Waitaminit, Rob. You’re a computer security expert. Why are you telling us things about a paint manufacturer?” Thank you for hitting the nail on the head! You realized that’s not my field of expertise…