FBI warns about new email virus

[Thomas W Tanner--]

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office


FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT E-MAIL SCHEME

E-mails purporting to come from FBI are phony

Washington, D.C. - The FBI is warning the public to avoid falling victim to an on-going mass e-mail scheme wherein computer users received unsolicited e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI. These 0000 e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions.

The e-mail appears to be sent from the e-mail addresses of mail@fbi.gov, post@fbi.gov and admin@fbi.gov. There may be other similarly styled addresses. The recipient is enticed to open the zip attachment which contains a variant of the w32/sober virus. If the program within the zip attachment is executed then the virus is launched and may affect the user's computer.

The text of the email is as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison
Federal Bureau of Investigation-FBI-


These e-mails did not come from the FBI. Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner.

Opening e-mail attachments from an unknown sender is a risky and dangerous endeavor as such attachments frequently contain viruses that can infect the recipient's computer. The FBI strongly encourages computer users not to open such attachments. For detailed information on the effects of running this virus please log onto http://www.cert.org.

The FBI takes this matter seriously and is investigating. Users are instructed to delete the e-mail without opening it.


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[J Ginsberg -]

Tom, I heard about this on the news. I use Mozilla Thunderbird, which means that when I click on the new thread, the email opens automatically. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can not get this virus? thanks in advance.

johnny

[Thomas W Tanner--]

Tom, I heard about this on the news. I use Mozilla Thunderbird, which means that when I click on the new thread, the email opens automatically. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can not get this virus? thanks in advance.

johnny

Sorry, Johnny....the only Thunderbird I've heard about is a cheap wine...:D Seriously, I don't have a clue how to avoid the virus. Hopefully someone more computer literate will come along to help.

[Steven Lofing]

Tom, I heard about this on the news. I use Mozilla Thunderbird, which means that when I click on the new thread, the email opens automatically. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can not get this virus? thanks in advance.

johnny

Johnny,
I use Mozilla Firefox for my Browser and Incredimail for my E-mail, Both work well, but i back them up with AVG anti virus by Grisoft, Nothing comes in or out without being scanned first. By the way, check with Fritz, he's in the loop w/ the FBI

[J Ginsberg -]

Thanks, Steven. Thunderbird is my email program. But I do have a scanning program that scans outgoing email. I use IE for my browser, since I've heard Firefox is still kinda buggy. I appreciate the response, Thanks a ton.

Johnny

[Maria Lu]

"Wonder, wondering and wonderous , how come Birds eat so little but they can fly so high,fast, go anywhere, and can hang around onto tiny electric wires instead onto Trees? Well, speaking of HOPE give them small pieces of bread when you can, before HELP gone with the wind".