Email doing the rounds that says you have a virus

fiddiwebb

Just on the off chance no one knows about this email which is doing the rounds at the moment it puports to come from a forum which you may be a member of saying that you visited and a virus alert was noticed on your computer.

The email asks you to sign in to a link which carries the forum name to view the original message or to reply to the message it also recommends another link which carries the forum name to check your computer and perform an online virus check at our site immediately.

If you come across one of these emails DO NOT click any links or follow the recommended link for a virus check.

If you are an existing or past member of a forum that is named in one of these emails please report it to the admin at the forum concerned.

Subject: New Private Message at ****** Forum
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL!
***************************

Dear ******,

You have received a new private message at ****** Forum from StopAdmin, entitled "Important message from the forum administration!".

To read the original version, respond to, or delete this message, you must log in here:
*****************

This is the message that was sent:
***************
Dear(s), *******!

A virus alert was noticed on your computer.
We highly recommend you to check your computer and perform online virus check at our site immediately: (I have deleted the link but seems to be a russian site)

---

Sincerely, Forum Administration *******
***************

Again, please do not reply to this email. You must go to the following page to reply to this private message:
************

All the best,
******* Forum

John_Gray

Is it likely that someone would be a member of ******* forum, whatever it was? (Is this variable, or always the same?)

Our organisation gets emails from a considerable variety of supposed banks, none of which have any relationship with us, so they just get deleted.

fiddiwebb

The email I received today which I c&p in my op (the *** is where I have deleted details) is supposed to be from a forum I am a member of but have not used for quite a while.

There are reports of members of other different forums receiving the same kind of emails.

Somehow members email details are being gathered and used.

esuhl

A dodgy email? I hear there was one email sent out last year too... Thank goodness there isn't more than one a year, eh?

fiddiwebb

Thanks esuhl

Its just a warning to anyone else who may not know the implications of clinking on links in these particular emails.

These emails which are being sent from the supposed admin of different forums to members of those forums.

I only twigged that the email was not right as I had not visited that particular forum for ages but if someone is a regular user of a forum and gets one of these then they may think differently.

Of course if you think it is a useless exercise to warn unsuspecting posters here then I apologise for wasting your time for you having to read this thread and replying