OT: Email Virus

[Dennis Cayton]

Dear Checker Friends,

My email address seems to have become infected with an email virus, one which seems to be sending out "spam" email messages at random to anybody to whom I have ever sent an email message.

This problem started early last week. I called in a technician, who came over and discovered a "Trojan Horse" virus. He was able to wipe it out, but only for a few days.

It came back last night. Apparently, the virus "replicated" itself.

Now I have to call the technician to come back over again, or find a new technician.

I have just been notified that one of my checker friends received one of these spam email messages.

Please accept my apologies if any of you have also received any of these messages, and for any inconvenience it may have caused you.

I will do whatever it takes to eliminate this problem forever.

Very Sincerely,

Dennis Cayton

[Palomino]

Dennis,

Last week I had a simular if not the same problem. I received several mail delivery failure emails which put me on notice that something was wrong. I ran a quick scan which didn't detect anything wrong. I then ran a full scan with Microsoft Security Essentials and it found that I had been infected by Trojan Downloader: Java/Open Connection.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/porta ... nection.OU

Microsoft Security Essentials removed it successfully.

You can get a free copy here.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... essentials

If you got this from me I'm sorry, I hope this helps

"Pal"

[Jay H]

I got bogus e-mails from both of you...Dennis, about two weeks ago, Pal, I got two from you last week. The e-mails made no sense, and I fugured there was something "amiss".....
Didn't put it all together, but I had a major computer issue over the weekend, had to call verizon and reset my modem and router, a real pain.......trying to run a scan right now with Verizon Security Suite....

[Irma Sierra]

I got 3 emails from Pal and of course I did open the first

[Irma Sierra]

If I have McAffee am I safe, you think?

[kiwinurse]

I received emails from both Pal and Dennis,i deleted them after realizing what they were but not before i opened one from you Dennis. Nothings happened tho

[Dennis Cayton]

Dennis,

Last week I had a simular if not the same problem. I received several mail delivery failure emails which put me on notice that something was wrong. I ran a quick scan which didn't detect anything wrong. I then ran a full scan with Microsoft Security Essentials and it found that I had been infected by Trojan Downloader: Java/Open Connection.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/porta ... nection.OU

Microsoft Security Essentials removed it successfully.

You can get a free copy here.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... essentials

If you got this from me I'm sorry, I hope this helps

"Pal"

Hello Pal,

Thank you very much for your message and for your recommendation and free link copy of he Microsoft Security Essentials program.

By the time I had heard about your message, I had aleady made an apointment with the computer technician, who came over last night.

He THINKS we finally got the problem solved this time. Only time will tell. He told me to contact him immediately, if and whenever this "virus" erupts again.

During our dicussion of this problem with him, the technician now believes that I did not catch this "virus" from another email message, as I do not remember "opening" any links from an unfamiliar email message.

About two weeks ago, my printer died. I needed to print out some copies from an internet site for one of my tutoring students.

So, I drove on out to our local Fed-Ex Kinko's site to get my printing done. This meant having to log onto my email account first.

The technician told me public computer sites are often teeming with hackers and password thieves. He told me that there is a special method, in which they can insert a thumb drive into a public computer and "capture" the password of its previous user.

This is how he thinks my email account became compromised and possiby hacked into.

Before the technician came over, I began to do some reading up on the subject of email viruses. I found the following articles to be very interesting and informative:

http://ask-leo.com/someones_sending_ema ... _i_do.html

http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/sea ... alId=51598

I showed these articles to the technician and he seemed to agree with what they had to say. We also completed the extra steps suggested in these articles.

Hopefully, they will shed some light on this problem for those of you who have been going through similar issues with your computer and email account.

In spite of the fact that I am a part-time math tutor, my technological skills are way behind what they should be. Therefore, I have decided to hire a private technology tutor myself, in order to help me fill up all the "potholes" in my technological literacy.

Thanks again for your help.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

[Dennis Cayton]

I got bogus e-mails from both of you...Dennis, about two weeks ago, Pal, I got two from you last week. The e-mails made no sense, and I fugured there was something "amiss".....
Didn't put it all together, but I had a major computer issue over the weekend, had to call verizon and reset my modem and router, a real pain.......trying to run a scan right now with Verizon Security Suite....

Hello Jay,

I am very sorry that you received one of those email messages for me and for all the trouble it has caused you. Please accept my apologies.

As for myself, I have already been cussed out twice from people who caught this email virus from an email message bearing my email address.

From what I have been reading, these email viruses have become a major epidemic.

I am very sorry that you were also a victim.

Once again, please accept my apologies.

Very Sincerely,

Dennis

[Dennis Cayton]

I received emails from both Pal and Dennis,i deleted them after realizing what they were but not before i opened one from you Dennis. Nothings happened tho

Dear Jan,

I am very sorry to hear that you also received one of those email messages from me. Please accept my apologies.

I will be hoping and praying that nothing happens to compromise your computer security in the future, as a result of the email message you received and opened from me.

This has really become a mess. A Google search on the subject of email viruses will reveal that a whole lot of people have become victims of this problem.

Once again, I hope your computer security will be safe.

Take very good care.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

[tommyc]

I found a long time ago that these things happen all the time if someones computer becomes compromised or catches a virus from another source.The saving grace is Not to open them then yu are ok and safe.Usually they are in the form of some sort of advertising and are easily recognisable NOT coming from the source named in the email.

[kiwinurse]

Its ok Dennis, these things happen, not your fault,hopefully my good antivirus has dealt with it,what exactly does it do?

[Dennis Cayton]

Its ok Dennis, these things happen, not your fault,hopefully my good antivirus has dealt with it,what exactly does it do?

Hi Jan,

Many thanks for your message.

I am also hoping that your antivirus program has eliminated any email virus that may have tried to invade your computer from my email message.

As for what it does, the following is a list of things it did to me.
___________

1) I received well over a hundred of what you call these "MAILER-DAEMON" messages, all at the same time or during a 24-hour time period, which I never sent in the first place, and which were undeliverable. These messages were sent randomly to people in my address book, but whose email addresses no longer exist.

2) I went to my "Sent" box and discovered hundreds of email messages that were sent to people in my address book which bore the subject heading of "no message."

3) I received a few messages that were sent from my own email address to myself at my own email address.

4) I received a couple of very angry email messages from people who knew me and who thought they could "trust" whatever link they contained. Consequently, they "opened" these links.
__________

These messages usually contain nothing more than a link of some sort, which are usually advertisements for such things as Viagra, useless financial products, get rich schemes, and even worse, sometimes porn.

Be leery of any email message that comes to you with a "no subject" or "Re:" subject heading with nothing following after it. Chances are that this is one of these messages.

Above all, never click on the link inside one of these messages, even if you know the person who sent it. The person who sent it may not know yet if he/she has contracted this virus.

As I described in an earlier message, my computer technician now believes I caught this virus from a public computer site, as I honestly do not remember clicking on any such links.

My printer had conked out, and I had to go on the internet to print out some materials for my tuoring students. This is why I went to this site in the first place.

What I didn't know at the time is that these places are often teeming with hackers, who know how to use a special program to steal your internet password, after inserting a thumb drive into the public computer you have just used.

Lesson learned. I will never use a public computer again.

Also be leery of messages from people you know which contain subject headings that are uncharacteristic of them. Some of these subject headings can be downright silly. Some of them come right out with an advertisement of some product.

The safest policy to follow is to delete any '"suspicious" messages without even opening it.

If your email system develops any of these symptoms, on such a massive scale as the one I have described, there is a good chance that your email address has become corrupted. I hope and pray this does not happen.

If this does happen to you, and if you are unable to solve the problem yourself, try to find a good computer technician to come over and help you.

Another good idea is to change the password on your ISP and the answers to any of the security questions which came with it.

This is really all I know, or think I know, about this subject. My own computer literacy is still very much behind, and I have hired a computer and technology tutor to help me get caught up.

For this reason, I invite any and all readers to correct me on any of the above, if anything I have written is incorrect, and to add any addtional information deemed necessary for the prevention and treatment of email viruses.

Good luck to you, Jan.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

[kiwinurse]

Thanks Dennis,you are very helpful.regards jan