Dur... Cause I'm like that stupid...

[Martin Keene]

To: martinkeene

From: sandra.inc15

Item: Sony Mini Hi Fi System With Surround - Home Cinema (5814845979)

Subject: Question about payment for item #5814845979 - Sony Mini Hi Fi System With Surround - Home Cinema

Q: i just viewed your item i,ve been looking for this item all along i need it urgently.i,m interested and would like to buy the item and i,ll pay you200GBP in cash via western union money order .i,ll make the payment with my western union account once the payment is made you,ll receive the payment confirmation email from western union that the payment is made so i,ll like you to ship it as soon as you,ve received the confirmation email and you ,ll get your money in 2 to3 days time.the item is in high demand in my store and i need it urgently i,ve already got some deposits from my customers .i,ll be the on e tp pay for the shipment with my FEDEX account so stop the bid and send me your name and address for the payment.thanks

Do people really fall for what these tw@ts spout out...

[Richgm]

The worrying thing is that some people fall for it.

   

[Martin Keene]

You'd have to be really  stupid to fall for this one. I got a warning from ebay about him/her/it minutes after him/her/it sent the question.

[MAT1800]

Perhpas there really isn't the ex wife of an african leader, who has $7,800,000 in a bank account willing to give me 10% if I help her out?

I almost fell for that one then.....

Mat.

[Martin Keene]

Again, worryingly some must fall for it.

I used to get sent them at work, and I forward one to my boss once, saying I thought it was a good way to boost the end of year figures and have forwarded the company bank accounts details.

He didn't see the funny side of it!

[MAT1800]

[JeffC]

I got this email this morning.......with a zippy thingy attatchment with it  Any ideas ? havnt opened it ?

hello,

First I must say, my English is very very bad! Sorry about this.

Ok, I've got an email in my box, but this email is not for me, because,,, I'm not the recipient! The recipient are YOU !!!

This must be an email provider error, but I don't know!

I have made a Screenshot about this mail and saved in a zipped jpeg graphic file for you.

ok then,

bye

[peterg]

yeah don't worry Jeff it's absolutely legit and won't damage your computer of trash your hard drive at all, no honestly      

I have to say that the one Martin got is in a lot better English than most of the ones I got when I was selling a trailer but they all got the same reply...... "F**k off and die scammer" - funnily enough none of them took it any further    

[JeffC]

can someone explain to a totally computer illiterate person what opening that file would do and how  , and why would someone want to spend time sending sh*te like this      

[Mrs Westy]

Usually someone creates the virus, which is what the attachment to that email is, and the virus self-replicates and automatically gets sent out to everyone in your address book.  So it's not that someone is bothering to spend time sending it (although for reasons best known to themselves, someone did spend time creating them! ) because it is automatically being sent whenever someone opens the document.  Usually the name of the sender isn't actually the person who sent it to you, the virus picks up any old name from the person's address book and uses that as the sent name.  The email message is also automatic and designed to make you open the attachment, thus installing the virus on your pc.  

Viruses can do anything from just clogging up your email to causing a complete system fail (which may or may not be restoreable at great cost) or forwarding all your personal stored details back to someone else who may then take great delight in doing something like emptying your bank account.  It really depends what the virus is, but the best way to not find out is by deleting the email straight away without opening the attachment!

[JeffC]

clever stuff...  

I had norton anti virus for the 1st year i had this computer  (didnt re-subscribe when asked  )  should this have blocked these emails or warned me of the dangers ?? may have to look into more internet security...      

[Mrs Westy]

Yes whatever we have automatically deletes potentially unsafe attachments.  Whatever system you go for, it's important to keep it up to date, as new viruses (virii?) are coming out all the time and so your system may not pick up something new if it's not kept up to date.  A lot of them automatically check for updates when you're connected to the web.

I'm no expert on what are the best systems though, but I'm sure someone else will be along to advise you on the best anti virus/anti-spyware stuff around  

[peterg]

Jeff, I'd avoid Norton in future anyway.... if you want the best protection get McAfee antivirus and keep it up to date AND install ZoneAlarm (it's free) and use Spybot or Ad-aware (again, free) to clear out any tracking software etc etc

my wife used to work for McAfee and they always checked on the competition and Norton were never very good...Symantec and Trend (now used by Hotmail, she never understood why they stopped using McAfee, it could only be 'cos they got a cheaper deal) were regarded as 'OK' and all the others were never going to be as good as they don't have the resources  

[MAT1800]

I'd say yes to a virus checker! I must get 3 or 4 a day stopped by the Email checker.

How much was your PC? How much do you use/need it? How likely are you to be able to fix a prob if it should arise?

Not having any net security is like going out with your front door open all the time, you're asking for trouble.....

An on another note, the more people who have propper security the less Junk mail we would all get, It should be compulsory IMO.

Mat.

[steppenwolf]

hello,

First I must say, my English is very very bad! Sorry about this.

Ok, I've got an email in my box, but this email is not for me, because,,, I'm not the recipient! The recipient are YOU !!!

This must be an email provider error, but I don't know!

I have made a Screenshot about this mail and saved in a zipped jpeg graphic file for you.

ok then,

bye

Yup I got this today as well! It went from my !!** Warning Attachment **!! folder to my Deleted Files folder and thence onto the National Grid withing about 10 seconds of it arriving .....