FBI Issues Warning About Computer Virus

[Kadie]

FBI Issues Warning About Computer Virus


By Associated Press

February 22, 2005, 6:44 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The FBI warned Tuesday that a computer virus is being spread through unsolicited e-mails that purport to come from the FBI.

The e-mails appear to come from an fbi.gov address. They tell recipients that they have accessed illegal Web sites and that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's "Internet Fraud Complaint Center," the FBI said.

The messages then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions. The computer virus is in the attachment.

"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," the FBI said in a statement.

more...
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-fbi-e-mails,0,6963222.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Tux]

1. Mmmmm

This is why I switched to Linux. However, Linux viruses suck. Last year, a virus for Red hat/Fedora came out and it didn't work even after compiling it. Oh well.

[intheflow]

2. It would be interesting to see who got these emails.

People working for defense contractors? People in education? Who alerted the FBI?

Of course, it could be entirely manufactured, too, another scare tactic. Hard to know these days.

[NYC]

3. Perhaps the number of computers that get this virus

will indicate how submissive the population is.

[Cush]

4. I got it yesterday

[Jazzgirl]

5. Why would anybody believe the FBI??

They have the worst computer system of all the government agencies. Oh yeah....I trust them. NOT!

[DemoTex]

6. I got a very slick e-mail bank scam last week.

It was from a Washington, DC, bank that I had an account with years ago. I was told that due to questionable ATM transactions, my account was locked (frozen). It had a link to click on for more info. I called the bank first. Big scam they said. That's what I thought I said.

[paineinthearse]

7. Warning: email sent from FBI.GOV is spreading virus

Breaking, heard on MSNBC.

more in a moment.......

[onehandle]

8. Not to me....

I have a Mac.

[reprobate]

23. Yeah. I've seen the light too. No viruses. No spyware. Life's good.

[paineinthearse]

9. Confirmed

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/022205.htm

For Immediate Release
February 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 today warned the public to avoid falling victim to an on-going mass e-mail scheme wherein computer users receive unsolicited e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI. These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions. The attachments contain a computer virus.

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.

The FBI takes this matter seriously and is investigating. Users receiving e-mails of this nature are encouraged to report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center via http://www.ic3.gov.

######

[Osamasux]

10. Nine critical Windows patches were released recently.

All Windows users should run Windows update to protect themselves. (All Linux & Mac users should chime in about how they don't need to.)

[bpilgrim]

13. don't forget...

upgrade to FIREFOX and Thunderbird as well ;->
http://www.mozilla.org

psst... need a CHEAP, SECURE computer that just works?

http://www.apple.com/macmini

see more...
http://XvsXP.com

peace

[Osamasux]

19. Tab browsing is just so much better, isn't it?

[bpilgrim]

22. yes... and all the extensions/themes are AWESOME

i love the web-developer and gui html editor extension's :wow:

peace

[reprobate]

24. And get spoofstick for Firefox. Protects against spoofed addresses.

http://www.corestreet.com/spoofstick/

[paineinthearse]

11. Virus alert: Don't open FBI e-mail

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/02/22/fbi.warning/

From CNN Justice Producer Terry Frieden
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Posted: 0105 GMT (0905 HKT)

The FBI says it does not send unsolicited e-mails to the public.


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Don't open those e-mail attachments that appear to be from the FBI. They might contain a computer virus. The FBI late Tuesday warned computer users that scam artists pretending to be FBI agents are at work spreading the computer virus. "These e-mails did not come from the FBI," the Bureau said in a statement released from its Washington headquarters. "The FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner."

The warning to the public was prompted by an ongoing mass e-mail in which computer users receive unsolicited e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI. The scam e-mails tell recipients their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center, and that they have accessed illegal Web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions, but the attachments contain a computer virus. "The FBI strongly encourages computer users not to open such attachments," the statement said.

The FBI does have an Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is located in West Virginia. That center, however, is investigating the ongoing scam and not -- as the scammers claim -- monitoring the Internet use of ordinary citizens.

[GetTheRightVote]

12. I am wishing I had one too now

Checking for updates.

:kick:

[On Par]

14. It's A Hoax....

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=FBI+virus&sp-a=00062d45-sp00000000&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=all&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-date-range=-1&sp-x=any&sp-c=100&sp-m=1&sp-s=0

Look at #2.

[dweller]

16. why don't you just post 3-4 paragraphs of the debunking?

including #2?

dp

[bpilgrim]

17. they even fooled the FBI?

E-mails purporting to come from FBI are phony
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/022205.htm

peace

[Heddi]

20. What's a hoax? The email, or the virus being sent?

The link you posted is for an old email virus that was sent around a few years ago. This one is different, has different wording, and is quite real (otherwise the FBI would not have put out a press release about it)

[Lauri]

21. I saw one of these emails today

It was caught in a spam filter that I was reviewing. Sent from fbi.gov - topic - accessing illegal websites or something like that. Assumed it was a scam of some kind so just deleted it. But it is not a hoax - the email is out there.

[On Par]

26. The Real Hoax ....

..is not that it's supposedly from the FBI, but because there is NO VIRUS in the email. The hoax only says that it "MAY" contain a virus.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/download.asp

OP

[Oreo]

27. it's real now - Sober.l virus in a zip file

I got one today that my server cleaned. It had a zip file attachment so they took an old hoax virus and made it real.

******** McAfee GroupShield for Microsoft Exchange **********
**********************************************************************

Alert generated on: Friday, February 25, 2005 06:00:14 PM Central Standard Time


The file indictment_cit2755.zip has been replaced as it contains the W32/Sober.l@MM!zip virus.
Please consult your administrator for further help quoting your ticket number:

[rodeodance]

15. eeks

[Duer 157099]

18. Well I hate to say it but

I think anyone who would open an attachment, ESPECIALLY if it were from the FBI, after reading that they are a suspect of some kind, deserves what they get.

Seriously, who would open it? thinning of the herd...

[napi21]

25. There are a whole lot of uninformed users out there!

I have a couple of relatives who live in such an innocent world, it would never occue to them that it would be a hoax. Believe me, I've spent way too much time trying to explain the evils of the internet world to them. Most of them are over 50, and realtively new to the net. When I read this thread, my first thought was to send a warning to all of them!