This just came from our IT Guru...

[acmavm]

<snip>

Several people have received e-mails with the following subject line:

"You've received A Hallmark E-Card!"

There is a Trojan Horse attached to this e-mail. DO NOT OPEN. DELETE IMMEDIATELY and then purge it from your deleted file. DO NOT FORWARD to anyone - no one needs to see it and you risk moving the virus to other PC's. Some PC's are now experiencing problems which will require the Operating System to be reloaded. For those who do not back up regularly, this means much data will be lost.

-NO MORE-

I didn't know where to post this.

[bdamomma]

1. thanks for the warning.

[JuniperLea]

2. Our home PC firewall mysteriously turned itself off this morning...

And the PC invaded by at least six viruses.

[Pab Sungenis]

3. 90% of the "E-cards" are scams.

I shitcan anything with "E-card" in the subject line automatically with a filter.

[peacetalksforall]

5. I agree. Never open an e-card. Genuine e-cards are victims of the thiefs of the internet..

[LiberalEsto]

4. Here's what Snopes has to say about it

It's a mixture of a real virus and a hoax.
They recommend not opening the link in your email, but going to the card company site and using the ID number included in the email to open it.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp

[Pab Sungenis]

6. Doing that only encourages

idiots to keep sending "E-cards" which makes it easier for these scams to succeed.

I might change my filter to an autoresponder, explaining why sending E-cards is a stupid idea.

[Jokerman]

14. "idiots"?

Wow, just a but judgmental, don't you think?

I'm an IT professional who sends and receives e-cards all the time and they have yet to do any harm to my machine or any other of the 800+ computers that I manage.

I have found that most all of the virus warnings distributed by email or posted on forums are either out-right hoaxes or at least heavily exaggerated.

Anti-virus software with current signatures may not make me bulletproof but it has done the job so far.

[acmavm]

9. It ain't a HOAX around here. I just talked to Deb. She is NOT

pleased.

[LiberalEsto]

11. I didn't write what it says

I simply looked it up on Snopes. If Deb has a concern, she can complain to them.

[acmavm]

16. People believe Snopes is the last word on everything. They

aren't. You have to be careful with them.

[apnu]

13. I'd like to note that the most recent example on the snopes.com site is from April 2008

Pretty old.

[Zywiec]

7. It's Agent Mike sending out greetings to DU members. n/t

[icnorth]

8. On the Hallmark ecard site...

Media Statement:
E-Card Fraud Awareness

Consumer security and the integrity of our brand are of great importance to Hallmark. Occasionally, we are made aware of fraudulent e-mails and other deceptive practices, such as the postcard virus currently circulating, which we take very seriously. While Hallmark's legal team addresses these concerns, we want our consumers to be aware of how to spot a fraudulent e-mail, which may contain major greeting card company names such as Hallmark.

Clicking on the links in these emails could download a virus onto a computer that compromises personal data. Here are steps consumers can take to reduce the chances of this happening:

* Delete the e-mail without opening it.
* If you have opened it and want to forward it to us, send it to [e-mail]. Due to the large amount of e-mail we receive at that address we will not be able to reply to your e-mail, but we will investigate. Then delete the e-mail from both your inbox and your sent folder. If you click on the link in the bogus e-mail, you will launch a Trojan virus. This virus installs an Internet Relay (IRC) chat client and causes the infected computer to connect to an IRC channel. Attackers then use that connection to remotely command your machine for the purpose gathering your personal information. An example of this virus is the Zapchast virus.
* If you use Windows XP and Internet Explorer you should visit update.microsoft.com to update your browser and operating system. Then you will be less likely to be affected by the virus.
* Report suspicious e-mail to your e-mail service provider so they can take action.
* File a complaint at http://www.ic3.gov/.

If you are unsure if you’ve received a legitimate Hallmark E-Card, don't click on a link in the e-mail. Instead locate the EG number in the e-mail and use our E-Card pickup.

http://corporate.hallmark.com/Current-News/E-Card-Awareness

[acmavm]

10. Thank you.

[DS1]

12. Your IT guru obviously sucks

Is that the best they can do?

It should be filtered at the server level.

edited for genderless gurification, not that this person is much of a guru


and why isn't this alleged guru handling backups?

[no limit]

15. You don't have to be so mean about it but I agree

why are their computers not running as limited accounts? Under no cirumstances should a virus on a LAN be able to spread to other computers because some non-technical employee opened an email attachment.

Hey acmavm, if you need a new IT guy I could use some work right now :). I'll make sure you never have to worry about these ecards again.

[acmavm]

17. Man oh man oh man oh man. Don't I wish. We keep getting these guys

at this place and so help me, they can't do shit. Or if they're really good, explaining what you want is right next door to impossible. You FINALLY get through, but it takes a while.

Wish I owned that place. It would be first class all the way. They have the money but just won't spend it. (DUH! Like you've never heard that one before.)