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***POTENTIAL VIRUS THREATENING BOARD - MUST READ!!!***
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:24 pm
by Loomis
Maerj just PMed me and asked me whether I had sent a email to him from my nerdcow account, which I had not.
The email said something about "ID" in the subject line, and "here is your ID" in the body of the email. Attached was an .exe file.
Checking my email, I saw that I had the same email from indianajdp, which I deleted immediately.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES open this .exe file. I don't know what it does, but it could be dangerous. DELETE the email immediately.
What I suspect is that somebody with one or more email addresses on file has a trojan, that is sending out this file. I urge everyone to scan their system for viruses and trojans. I'm 99% sure it isn't me, as the account in question is web-based and I have no addresses in my address book for that account. I apologise for mentioning people by name here, but these are the people I know who are related to this somehow, and need to double check their systems.
I have also removed my email address from this forum until further notice.
Thanks
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:31 pm
by indianajdp
Yeah, I got one too this afternoon..from
Luke
As always, a good rule of thumb is if you're not sure, just don't open the attachment. Another rule of thumb...if the language in the e-mail or subject line is jumbled...don't open the attachment!!
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:34 pm
by Loomis
indianajdp wrote:Yeah, I got one too this afternoon..from
Luke
As always, a good rule of thumb is if you're not sure, just don't open the attachment. Another rule of thumb...if the language in the e-mail or subject line is jumbled...don't open the attachment!!
Ok, the plot thickens....it seems every person who has been identified as sending one, has received from somebody else.
That's why I urge everyone to check their systems, and as indiana says (as did I earlier) DELETE ON SIGHT.
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:37 pm
by karlsen
.. and another great rule is to see if this sounds like anything that person might have sent you.
I once got an email from an old lady in my church that sead "Playboy Screensaver" and I imidiatly knew that it might be something else.
My oppinion is that 99% of all virus emails are so dumb that you should imidiatly know that it is a virus.
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:44 pm
by Satoshi
I haven't gotten any e-mails from anyone here.
I'm pretty sure it's not me that's sending them out though, as I don't have anyone in my address book. I mean that is the way typical viruses are sent out am I right?
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 7:58 pm
by Loomis
Satoshi wrote:I haven't gotten any e-mails from anyone here.
I'm pretty sure it's not me that's sending them out though, as I don't have anyone in my address book. I mean that is the way typical viruses are sent out am I right?
Typically, yes. But these viruses are getting smarter.
I've run a full scan on myself, and updated all my software and run it again, and it seems cool.
But so far we have all received these from different people. Maerj got one from "me", I got one from "indiana", inidiana got it from "Luke" etc... Which makes me suspect that it is somebody sending these out to each person, instead of a virus. Perhaps the addresses are just being gathered from the board?
However, in the "sender" it has said "
nercow@telstra.com" for example, rather than Loomis, or
bob@moo.com, rather than Bob Cow, if you catch my drift. it was the email address and not the actual name of the person.
At any rate, I urge everyone that has received to get Data to run a full diagnostic (sorry, just been watching 'Trek) to make sure.
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:03 pm
by Luke
Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon!
I haven't noticed anything like this, but I apologize and I can assure you that I am not sending out viruses to anyone. If I've gotten something like this, it's probably been deleted with the dozens and dozens of other junk mails.
Sorry for the trouble, folks!
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:51 pm
by Loomis
Luke wrote:Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon!
This reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head...
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 4:41 am
by jabroni76
Hey hey - thanks looomis. I got something with the same subject line, and don't recal who sent it. But I did delete it!
Thanks though, again, for the heads up!