Email virus hoaxes can be almost as virulent as actual viruses. A particularly persuasive hoax will have people propagating the email rapidly, increasing traffic on mail servers, and, in some cases, requiring companies to shut down their mail servers to avoid a crash.

Before you hit that "Forward" button, check out Symantec's Hoaxes web page to get the full scoop.

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html