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The antivirus industry - and those covering it - are often accused of blowing threats out of proportion, hyping viruses for profit, and other allegations of hysteria. However, a new marketing technique makes all others pale in comparison. Whether by mistake or design, the folks at Intelliquis are using virus hoaxes to peddle their products.

First discovered and reported by Giordani Rodrigues, editor of the Brazilian security site InfoGuerra.com.br, the scam begins by quoting an ubiquitous, and scary sounding, hoax. The hoax begins:

WORST EVER VIRUS (CNN announced)
PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST !!
A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive ever! This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee and no vaccine has yet been developed. (Yes, there is a solution read below) This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital information for its functioning are stored.