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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Fake FBI, CIA e-mails contain viruses

I received a poor attempt to pass along the Sober worm in my emails this day - 22 Nov'05. I blocked the sender and of course, did not open it. The following story discusses this:

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The text of the e-mail is as follows says "We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites," and directs the recipient to open an attachment to respond to questions.

"The FBI takes this matter seriously and is investigating," the law enforcement agency said, urging those receiving e-mails of this nature to report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center via www.ic3.gov.

The FBI released a statement on its website noting that the agency was not the source of the e-mails. But experts said that the virus was propagating because the authors made the message appear authentic.

The FBI statement said recipients of this or similar messages "should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner."

The messages appear to be sent from an e-mail address such as mailAfbi.gov, postAfbi.gov, adminAfbi.gov or a similar address, and direct the recipient to open an attachment to answer question. The opening of the file activates the virus and causes it to spread to others.

The Internet security firm Sophos said similar e-mails may appear to come from the Central Intelligence Agency, but it noted that both contain a strain of the Sober virus that has been spreading worldwide.

In a four-hour period Tuesday, the worm "has accounted for over 61 percent of all viruses reported to Sophos, making it currently the most prevalent virus spreading across the world."

"This variant of the Sober worm may catch out the unwary as they open their e-mail inbox this morning," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"Every law-abiding citizen wants to help the police with their enquiries, and some will panic that they might be being falsely accused of visiting illegal websites and want to click on the unsolicited e-mail attachment. All users should be reminded to follow safe computing guidelines, and PCs should be kept automatically updated with the latest anti-virus protection."

More here: www.physorg.com/news8397.html

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I got quite a few of these in my inbox, but am safe.
Never open up a zip or exe. file of unknown origin!!

[Maddad]

FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner

If anyone is still falling for this horse pucky, then they probably deserve to get the virus. You just know the FBI wouldn't contact you with an eMail.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

For about three days, my mailbox was loaded with these scams and emails. They stopped suddenly and the threat seems to have passed.

What type of sub-human gets their jollies by creating such un-necessary and unproductive code. We are our worse enemy.

I think a 48 hour enema is in order for the perpetrator.

[Maddad]

Just tie a tight rope around his neck when you do so he doesn't lose his brains.