Facebook Christmas Tree “Virus” is Only a Hoax

Is it Christmas or April Fools' Day that has come early this year? Facebook had a fake virus hoax this month. You may have seen the warning:

Warning!!!!!!... DO Not use Facebook's Christmas Tree app. Please be advised that it will cause your computer to crash. The Geek Squad says that it is a serious Trojan virus, and that it is quickly spreading. Please do RE-post this message and make your family and friends aware of the virus.

If you got this message at Facebook, or posted it by message or as part of your status update, you can breathe deeply and know that it was just a pre-holiday hoax. It spread as quickly as a virus does, but it certainly doesn't cause as much damage.

It was found earlier this month that innocent users were spreading this warning about a virus that does not exist, to their family and friends at Facebook, according to Sophos Security. They advise that you share the news of the hoax with all those family and friends.

Don't feel too gullible if you passed this hoax along without checking to see whether it was valid or not. Most users on Facebook have, at one time or another, clicked on a bad link or app, which does sometimes result in letting a virus access your email address book and spread embarrassing video links to your unsuspecting friends.

Anyone could create a rogue app named Christmas Tree, according to Sophos Security, but they are not aware of any malware using that disguise.

And since when was Geek Squad any kind of a reliable source on malware information? It's more sensible for you to check with an anti-virus company that is well-established. If the warning had been legitimate, there would have been a link on the Geek Squad website, and there wasn't one. It's ironic that this hoax has spread faster than any genuine Facebook viruses encountered right now.

Consider the hoax a learning experience, and a time to review lessons about sending along unconfirmed email that we receive. This faux hoax is seemingly harmless, but it does sow problems of a longer duration by taking our attention away from actual virus warnings.

You've heard the old story of the boy who cried “wolf”. This is similar to that, telling people they shouldn't use an app that is not actually infected with a virus. This does breed some unhealthy skepticism about other cautionary posts. When a real virus hits Facebook next, people may question the warnings instead of heeding them.