WARNING: Here's an e-mail I received earlier today:

[whistle]

Dear Sir/Madam,

we have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions!
The list of questions are attached.


Yours faithfully,
M. John Stellford



++-++ Federal Bureau of Investigation -FBI-
++-++ 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2130
++-++ Washington, DC 20535
++-++ [phone]

The attachment was called "DELETEDO.TXT" which sounds like some sort of macro program. I sent a reply to the above e-mail address which said "You're full of crap!". It was returned with a non-deliverable error.

I did not open the attachment and deleted the message. Any other DUers get this message?

[dbt]

1. Sounds like a virus to me.

[ikri]

7. Its a virus

Sober-k we got a flood of them at work earlier today.

[cheezus]

2. looks like an email worm

delete!

[Vinca]

3. It was in the paper a few days ago - some kind of virus.

I've gotten it about 4 times and each time a virus was removed by the server.

[mwb970]

4. Wasn't a warning issued about this a few weeks ago? (n/t)

[bpilgrim]

5. FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT E-MAIL SCHEME ------------> LINK

It's a VIRUS do NOT follow

FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT E-MAIL SCHEME

E-mails purporting to come from FBI are phony

Washington, D.C. - The FBI today warned the public to avoid falling victim to an on-going mass e-mail scheme wherein computer users receive unsolicited e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI. These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions. The attachments contain a computer virus.

These e-mails did not come from the FBI. Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner.

Opening e-mail attachments from an unknown sender is a risky and dangerous endeavor as such attachments frequently contain viruses that can infect the recipient’s computer. The FBI strongly encourages computer users not to open such attachments.

The FBI takes this matter seriously and is investigating. Users receiving e-mails of this nature are encouraged to report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center via http://www.ic3.gov.

source...
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/022205.htm

peace

[Bridget Burke]

6. The attachment was probably a worm...

Google offerd numerous links about the mythical Mr Stellford. Here's one:

www.f-secure.com/weblog/#00000483

[seito]

8. It is a virus

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4293583.stm

[TR Fan]

9. This is a hoax e-mail

reported last week on CNN. The FBI has indicated that they do not send out unsolicited e-mails. It may be an attempt to gain personal information, rather than a virus or worm.

Over the last few months, I've been receiving e-mails from Washington Mutual, indicating that attempts had been made to break into my online account with them (which I don't have). I, therefore, needed to go to a particular website and change my password. At that point, I'm sure the program would request additional personal info about me, SSN, etc., to "verify" my identity prior to letting me reset the password.

[WilliamPitt]

10. It's a virus

I get 100 of them a day.

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER open an attachment from someone you do not know.

Ever.

[GiovanniC]

11. As Soon as I Saw It Was Only 40 Illegal Websites

I would know it was a phony.

[Bluebear]

12. hehehehehehe

[ktowntennesseedem]

16. If I got one that mentioned only 1 illegal web site,

I'd know it was legit, because I'd assume the one illegal site was DU!!!

[radwriter0555]

13. LOL! what are ILLEGAL WEBSITES???

ROFLMAO!

VERY cute!

[whistle]

14. Exactly, I blew it away.....

[BanzaiBonnie]

15. I got one just like this

I threw it away. I'm quite sure it was a virus.