Life is beautiful virus hoax

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The hoax was spread through the Internet around January 2002. It told of a virus attached to an e-mail, which was spread around the Internet. The attached file was supposedly called:

Life is beautiful.pps

It is said that this hoax was created as a protest against Microsoft Corp. to make the .pps file extension more universal. The e-mail said:

" URGENT! VIRUS! This information arrived this morning, from Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless email with a PowerPoint presentation called "Life is beautiful.pps." If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and delete it immediately. If you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: "It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful", subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, email and password. This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon. WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS VIRUS. AOL has already confirmed its dangerousness, and the antivirus Softs are not capable of destroying it. The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself "life owner", and who aims to destroying domestic PCs and who also fights Microsoft in court! That’s why it comes disguised with extension pps. He fights in court for the Windows-XP patent. MAKE A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS."

The message was unconfirmed and later classified as a hoax.