Phony FBI E-mail Launches Virus

By Todd Weiss

February 28, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Recommended

(4)

Digg

Twitter

Share/Email

Computerworld - A fake e-mail that purports to be from the FBI is circulating on the Internet with a computer virus as its payload.
The FBI last week warned that the unsolicited e-mail tells users that "their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have accessed illegal Web sites."
The bogus message then asks recipients to click on an attachment and answer some questions about their alleged illegal Internet use. But rather than being a questionnaire, the attachment infects the recipient's computer with an as yet undetermined virus.
Paul Bresson, an FBI spokesman, said last week that the agency discovered the phony e-mail over the previous weekend after several recipients notified the FBI. He said he didn't know exactly how many complaints were received.
The e-mail message has multiple misspellings and is written in broken English, Bresson said. "The wording is very poor, which helps us," he said. "We're hoping that that flags people."
Bresson said he didn't know whether any victims of the scam have provided their credit card numbers or other information.
Pete Lindstrom, an analyst at Spire Security LLC in Malvern, Pa., said fake e-mail messages will continue to be a problem until tighter standards for sending e-mails are adopted by senders and recipients.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Viruses

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

Do You Know the 7 Steps to Successful Data Migration?

Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.

WHITE PAPER

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs

Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.

WHITE PAPER

IDC White Paper: Linux in a Global Recession

Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

White Papers & Webcasts

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.

LIVE Nov 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

LIVE Nov 12, 2009 02:00 PM ET

The State of PCI DSS Compliance at Organizations Today
Download this resource today!

Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...

Can Heuristic Technology Help Your Company Fight Viruses?
What is Heuristic Technology and how can it help safeguard your business against viruses? Learn more.

Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.

Why Email Must Operate 24/7 and How to Make This Happen
Learn how to avoid an email outage by implementing a hosted email continuity solution.

Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!

Eradicate Spam & Gain 100% Asurance of Clean Mailboxes
Get this paper now!

Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!

Mastering eDiscovery: The IT Manager's Guide to Preservation, Protection & Production
Get this paper now!

Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...

All White Papers | All Webcasts