This is not a virus; it is a complete hoax. The "virus" does not exist. There is currently no virus that has the characteristics ascribed to "FatCat." It is a sham, meant only to panic new or inexperienced computer users.

The message includes the following "warning":

a recently posted file (sysinfo.exe) is an insidious and deadly VIRUS ! also known as the fatcat virus, due to its tendency to eat mice, this is the most indestructible virus known to (wo)man !!! under NO circumstances should you download this file ... what you have done so already ?!?

that's too bad, now your mouse is dead !

time to go and buy a new one ... better yet, buy 20 as this virus is self-replicating and will infect at least 12 and up to 18 mice no matter what you do. no anti-virus program has yet been able to eradicate all traces of this vile, extractor-type, virus and cases of the anti-virus program being infected and ultimately mutated by this virus have been recorded. what this means is that the virus will actually copy a small hidden file onto you anti-virus disk and this will then be activated everytime the anti-virus program is used. worse yet, by electromagnetic induction pulse, it will also infect any disk stored within 15 feet of the affected disk. do NOT simply try to dispose of the infected disk by throwing it away - you never know what other disks it will come to within 15' of and transfer its stealth program to.

sofar the only absolutely sure way to get rid of all data on an infected disk has been shown to be a combination of intense heat and extreme pressure and only one company in the world has been able to create these conditions and they GUARANTEE complete destruction of the virus. this company is called "macrohard c.c." and any affected disks, hard-drives or even cd-roms can be sent to them at p.o box 1009 north riding 2162, RSA. once your disk has been successfully destroyed by the above measures, the resultant product will be returned to you, so do not forget to include your full POSTAL address! the returned product's size varies from 0.01ct (for a 5 1/2 floppy) to 1.12ct (for a 6.4gig hard drive).

remember this company GUARANTEES safe and complete destruction of affected products - the ONLY way to deal with the FATCAT virus.
 

this message brought to you in the interest of public safety by Notnilc Electronic Smacs.
 
 
 

Please ignore any messages regarding this "virus" and do not pass on any messages regarding it. Passing on messages about this hoax serves only to further propagate it.