RE: Has anyone else received.....

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I discovered the other day what “opening an e-mail” actually entails. Just the passive, default viewing of the body of the letter…ie I did not select it or double tap it, earned me a viral infection. Fortunately Symantec encapsulated it immediately—but my collection of these encapsulated folders is growing. I’ve learned not to let my curiosity get the best of me and simply drag suspects to Deleted Items. And empty the latter frequently.

Take care

Maryann Whitman

-----Original Message-----
From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of miranda@tagoresmith.com
Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 4:04 PM
To: 'Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum'
Subject: RE: [GWL] Has anyone else received.....

I received something that was supposedly from this list with an attachment, too. I've forgotten the subject line, but it was also enticing. However, assume that anyone on this list would have the courtesy to either paste an item to a message or insert a link to a website, so I did not open it. 

This afternoon, I also received a piece of mail that was supposedly from the manager of my email account informing me that my email was going down and telling me to open the attached zip file to reactivate it. It even gave a password for the zip file. Fortunately, my son manages my email account, so I called him--he said it was a fraud and that the zip file probably carried a virus or worm of some sort. He also reminded me that it's easy to fake a "from" line and that these sorts of things are rampant these days.

Consequently, I'd avoid opening anything, even from someone I knew, unless I knew it were coming. It doesn't hurt to call or write and ask before opening an attachment.

Best,

Miranda Smith