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 "[email protected]." 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected] and let me know.

Posted by Lafe Low on October 31, 2007


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