virus question

[OPTIDONN]

I recently checked my email and saw at least 7 failure notification messges about messages that I supposedly sent. I checked them and they were all sent to people I don't know and said "ha ha here...,is it" and I saw that there was an attachment. When I checked it my virus checker thing said that a worm was found. So what does this mean? In case you couldn't tell I don't know much about computers.

[For-Life]

There are viruses that when loaded onto your computer send emails to everyone else on your list with the virus.

That is why you never open attachments unless the sender is someone you know and has an personal introduction.

[optispares]

:( OPTIDONN A full system scan with your antivirus software would be a good idea.To check for any "worms" that may have infected your system.:hammer:

[For-Life]

also, make sure you get an ad-aware (not ad-ware) program like Spybot S&D

[Jubilee]

I have been having this same issue with my own computer. I have ran many virus scans making sure I have up to date definitions, and continue to do so.


After investigating it further, I looked more closely at the messages for the return and found two different scams happening.

1) some were malware type that included either IP addresses or links to web addresses.. .sometimes had attatchments that was to get the person receiving the bounce messaage to click on in attempt to figure out what was happening.

2) some were do to various persons farming email addies to use for spoofing headers. When those are bounced, it goes to the spoofed address. That is how the first scam worked..Spoof the addy, and when it gets bounced, the person receiving the message will fall for the malware trick.

I also found out that one of the people who spoofed my email scammed $$$ people on ebay. They set my email addy as the one to communicate with, but pay via auctionworks to another. So they got the cash, and I got about 20 angry email messages wondering where their stuff was. Luckily ebay could confirm that I wasn't the original sender.

Cassandra

[DocInChina]

I consider myself an above average computer user and would recommend the following programs to help solve this and other potential problems:

1) Grisoft AVG is a free antivirus program that checks your computer daily while running in the background and also updates itself in the background. It verifies all incoming and outgoing email if you desire though I do not use this feature because it slows down my email downloads and uploads.

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php

2) Zone Alarm Free Version an excellent software firewall to protect your valuable files. Make sure you click on the Download Free ZONEALARM bar.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?lid=zaskulist_download

3) Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 detects and removes a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer.

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10289035.html?tag=lst-0-1

4) SpywareBlaster 3.3 prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs

http://www.download.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022_4-10372089.html?tag=lst-0-1

5) Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner detects a multitude of spyware, adware, Trojan horses, keyloggers, and trackware components.

http://www.download.com/Bazooka-Adware-and-Spyware-Scanner/3000-8022_4-10377953.html?tag=lst-0-1

6) Ad-aware SE Personal Edition does an excellent job of quickly finding and removing most adware and spyware components, although you will have to restart and rescan for a seriously infected machine.

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10319876.html?tag=lst-0-5

Some of you may feel this is too many programs and you may decide to download just one. I recommend using them all because not all the programs find a problem. By running these every 1-2 weeks you should be able to keep your program relatively problem free.

Doc