Virus Riding on FTC E-Mail
Talk about a Halloween costume. There've been reports of a new virus that arrives
masquerading as an
e-mail
from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has been warning consumers this
week to not open any e-mails that appear to come from its fraud department.
The costumed virus appears to be from "frauddep@ftc.gov." It even
has the FTC seal, so it looks official. Now,
that's a good costume.
All kidding aside, advise your users to immediately delete such e-mails, which
can often strike fear into the hearts of users with that ".gov" suffix.
This latest trick comes with attachments and links that will download the virus,
which then steals personal information from the victim like passwords and account
numbers.
If you or any of your users see this e-mail knocking on your door this Halloween,
forward it to spam@uce.gov. Then the real
FTC can investigate the tricksters.
What are some of the craziest malware e-mails you've received? What's your
process for protecting your users and screening e-mails? Do you rely more on
technology or on educating users? Send me a virus-free e-mail at llow@redmondmag.com
and let me know.
Posted by Lafe Low on October 31, 2007 at 11:57 AM