FarmVille virus hoax warning

A virus warning circulating among players of FarmVille is a hoax, security experts have warned.

FarmVille, which was recently in the news after a Bulgarian councillor was sacked because of his addiction to it, is a game that can be played on the social-networking site Facebook.

The hoax message, which claims that malware is being spread by links which offer players the ability to send three eggs at once, supposedly comes from Norton - a brand name used by security firm Symantec.

However, security experts said that the hoax message could be causing just as much disruption to players as a real virus would, and warned players not to circulate it.

"Do your bit - don't forward virus alerts to your friends and family until you have confirmed that the alert is real with a reputable security company. Otherwise, you could be just helping to keep a hoax alive," said Graham Cluley of Sophos.