I have received 2 unsolicited emails like below and they have zip files attached, I think they're viruses. Is there a way to find out? I tried to google it, but didn't really find anything helpful. Dear Valued Customer: As requested, we are sending you this account statement with information on the transactions carried out with your credit card between 1/1/2008 and 8/1/2008. Please find the account statement with the detailed list of the transactions attached to this message. You can view the document or print it out by simply saving the attached file to disk and opening it for viewing. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance. At your service, Margie Paulson Manager of Visa / MasterCard Credit Card Services
If you do not know who the person is who sent them to you then do not open them. If you are uncertain you can always call your credit card companies for verification.
Oh! don't worry - I'm not opening them as we have not requested that information. I was just curious if it was a virus, so I could warn others. I haven't seen any emails warning against this particular kind, and I couldn't find anything when I searched.
But check by going to the web site of the bank where the account is held, not by opening the attachment.
But thats the thing - we don't do online banking involving the credit card (this pertains to work, not personal card). Thats another reason I think its just a virus, to get you to open the attachment and screw up your computer.
Its probably not a virus, per say, but a key stroke logger. The spammer sends out a billion of those same letters in hopes of a few idiots taking the letter a real and they go to their account and type in their user name and password. Then the spammer has it and they can log in to the account later and do what they wish.
This is a common ploy to attempt to deliver a virus payload to your computer. The body of the message will attempt to appear "official" as in the one you received referencing a credit card account. Similar messages will refer to: - travel plan confirmations - an invoice for money you owe - a quote you "asked for", etc., etc. The virus/worm/malware is encased in a ZIP file as the attachement so that it can often evade detection of scanning that occurs on mail servers. So, the text of the message is solely intent on getting you to open the ZIP file, at which point it will attempt to load and infect your PC. ANY file attachement you receive via e-mail should raise your suspicions.
Typically a message from someone you actually do business with with have your name on it............not just "Dear Customer". They are phishing. Trash it.
HELP!! My computer has locked up 5 times today. I ran spybot as I often do and it picked up several tracking cookies etc which I had the program clean up. But today, at least 3 times while spybot was scanning, it popped up a warning window saying there was an error while scanning a file and then gave the file. It told me to go to error log on spybot to see a report about it. When I went to error log, there were about 40-50 files in there. Here's an example of one: C:\PROGRAM FILES\SPYBOT-SEARCH & DESTROY\Includes Malware.sbi l Win32.Agent.pz l <$FILE_EXE> C:\PROGRAM FILES\SPYBOT-SEARCH & DESTROY\Includes Trojans.sbi l Haxdoor.hm l <$FILE_LIBRARY> (Most of them have the Haxdoor thing but some end with EXE or SYSTEM, or DATA instead of LIBRARY.) I don't know what this is or what I should do about it. Advice would be much appreciated.
No one program (Spybot, AdAware, etc.) gets rid of all infections of malware/viruses, so it is best to run a combination of them...what one misses the other may get. In the past, I have often recommended using the free scan from ewido.net - and still use it as part of a toolkit to remove these types of infections. However, over the past two months I have run into several different malware problems that no program would locate and remove - other than a new one I have started using which is MalwareBytes. You can download the free version from their site at: http://www.malwarebytes.org/ (There is a link on the left hand side of the page where they direct you to CNET for the download.) Malwarebytes has detected and cleaned some of the worst kind of malware and trojan viruses that I have ever come across - when some of the other programs didn't even "see" them. I would suggest downloading it and giving it a try to see if it will alleviate your issues. Note: Many people are responding to these problems after the fact. That is, they are cleaning up the mess with free programs that solve the problem after it has occured, rather than preventing it to start with. It is best to install some proactive software on your computer that will help prevent these infections from taking place in the first place - many of these viruses/malware are designed to aid in identity theft. Best to prevent this than clean up after it!
Ok, yes , it was the zip file that caught my attention and raised a red flag as well. Thanks for all the opinions - the file has been deleted!
The malware you have listed can be fixed by these two free programs. Dowload both to your PC. Combo fix =ComboFix SDFix = SDFix After the downloads, Disconnect the internet from the PC. Then disable your antivirus and firewalls. Double-click on combofix.exe and follow the prompts. It will do the rest. Whiles it's running do not click your mouse it may cause a stall. When it's done Double click SDFix.exe and it will extract the files to %systemdrive% (Drive that contains the Windows Directory, typically C:\SDFix) Reboot your computer in Safe Mode by doing the following : Restart your computer After hearing your computer beep once during startup, but before the Windows icon appears, tap the F8 key continually Instead of Windows loading as normal, the Advanced Options Menu should appear Select the first option, to run Windows in Safe Mode, then press Enter Choose your usual account. Open the extracted SDFix folder (C:\SDFix) and double click RunThis.bat to start the script. Type Y to begin the cleanup process. It will remove any Trojan Services and Registry Entries that it finds then prompt you to press any key to reboot. Press any Key and it will restart the PC. When the PC restarts the Fixtool will run again and complete the removal process then display Finished, press any key to end the script and load your desktop icons. Once the desktop icons load the SDFix report will open on screen and also save into the SDFix folder as Report.txt Print this post to look at while your doing the fix
Thanks for the great advice!!! I probably should have mentioned that my OS is Win98SE so I am running into trouble with some of these downloads. When I tried the SDfix, it eventually popped up a message stating: Cannot find the file %systemdrive% ...... (oops, I just lost that window) I saw this also: SDFix will only run on Windows 2000 and Windows XP in Safe Mode ! When I try the Combo fix, it just says done and shows me a blank page, nothing ever loads. (update - I "think" this one loaded) (Nope - didn't load UGGGH!) I tried going to ewido with no luck and the other site suggested says it requires Windows NT version 4.0 or later. This makes me nervous. Is my computer reaching the stage where it can't be "fixed"??:? Can you suggest some fixes that will work with my OS? As I stated earlier, I do run Spybot about once a week and I have the free version of AVG scheduled to run each day. I have never been too good at understanding what I needed to do to both prevent malware, spyware, virus, etc and to get rid of any I already have. I discovered there are over 3800 files sitting in my AVG virus vault. All of them say that they can't be healed. Some of them list as backup copy and others say item moved. I don't know what to do with them?
Win 98 without a major firewall and virus protection is a spyware target. Because it's not supported anymore it's an open book to attacks. If your happy with the speed of your PC then I'd say watch Craigs List for a cheap copy of Win 2000 or XP and install that.
Okay, I have WinXP - bought it to do a fix on my DD's computer - you may remember that delima ddrdAN. I did not have to register it - just had to BUY it for the fix. Ugggh!! So.... what I guess what I need to do is convert. But....I am a chicken. I don't want to lose everything I have on my Win98 PC. Okay, I'm a packrat - afraid to lose vital info. So.... I want to buy an external hard drive and load XP on it. Then I figure I can keep my 10 years of info that's on the Win 98SE. And I will use the XP to have access to the internet and speed things up ??? Does that make sense to you?? Please - enlighten me if not!!!!!! :? Hey...THANKS for taking the time to help!!!! Really!!!!
Moving files from an infected computer to a clean one is like having your sick kid intentionally sneeze on the healthy one!:lol::lol::lol: I suggest you buy a new hard drive. If your looking fo a cheap used one I have a few ($20). Load the new XP on the new drive. Now you can hook both drives up and you access the old one in windows explorer. You can't move programs but you can move pics, docs, tax files, etc.. You can also start, either or, 98 & XP at boot up. Do not connect the old drive till youve loaded XP, a good firewall, and an anti-virus software. Load at least 3 virus softwares. One bought, two free ones. Kapersky is cheap right now and pretty decent. Hook up the old drive. As soon as you boot into xp run a scan of all 3 virus softwares on that old drive. Choose delete over quarantine on any of the findings. Reboot and do it again, but swap the start places of the virus softwares. 1st is now 2nd, 2nd is now 3rd,..etc. If your smart, do it a third time. Now you can move your files. Hope this helps. Dan
