Botnet fishers
Thread Starter
Official PPRuNe Chaplain
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,498
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From: Witnesham, Suffolk
Botnet fishers
I've had over a dozen spam e-mails today all with attached files to try to infect my PC so that it becomes part of a botnet. All have been "spamcopped".
If you get an "invoice" or a "statement" attached to an e-mail from a firm you've never heard of (or one you've never dealt with), don't open it!
If you've opened one already, your computer is infected and you need help.
If you get an "invoice" or a "statement" attached to an e-mail from a firm you've never heard of (or one you've never dealt with), don't open it!
If you've opened one already, your computer is infected and you need help.
Thread Starter
Official PPRuNe Chaplain
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,498
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From: Witnesham, Suffolk
Normally, yes. It's clicking on the attachment (most that I've seen have been .doc or .docx). Unless your PC is set to automatically open attachments (a very bad idea!).
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,663
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From: Earth
Keef,
Let me reword that for you .....
If you get an attachment to an e-mail you're not expecting, irrespective of whether or not you know the sender.... DO NOT OPEN IT.
If you get an "invoice" or a "statement" attached to an e-mail from a firm you've never heard of (or one you've never dealt with), don't open it!
If you get an attachment to an e-mail you're not expecting, irrespective of whether or not you know the sender.... DO NOT OPEN IT.
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 565
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From: Passed away on Sept 6th
But then again, they're going to get lucky sooner or later - it doesn't cost them to send mega-multiples. I was actually conned (it looked like the same name as something I expected) into opening one such some months ago. But good old Avast! said 'What the !!!! do you think you're doing, I've deleted that - it's naughty'
So all was well.
In that instance.
So all was well.
In that instance.
Thread Starter
Official PPRuNe Chaplain
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,498
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From: Witnesham, Suffolk
In principle so, mixture, but in practice I get e-mails every day from people I know but with attachments I wasn't "expecting". They are usually items for inclusion on the church website, or photographs I might want to use, news about people I know, or other tidbits of information.
If I know the person, and if the file type is "safe", then I open it. None of my regular correspondents sends .exe or .scr and such files.
On the rare occasions (like one a year or so) where the email is bogus/from a hijacked account, Avast usually spots it and flags it before I do. Even then, the body text of the message is patently not from the person it says it is.
I have a neat little add-in to Thunderbird which shows against each e-mail the flag of the country it actually came from. 99% of the legitimate ones show the US or UK flag. If I see Russian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Brazilian etc then I check!
If I know the person, and if the file type is "safe", then I open it. None of my regular correspondents sends .exe or .scr and such files.
On the rare occasions (like one a year or so) where the email is bogus/from a hijacked account, Avast usually spots it and flags it before I do. Even then, the body text of the message is patently not from the person it says it is.
I have a neat little add-in to Thunderbird which shows against each e-mail the flag of the country it actually came from. 99% of the legitimate ones show the US or UK flag. If I see Russian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Brazilian etc then I check!
Psychophysiological entity
Joined: Jun 2001
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 3,383
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From: Walton on the Naze Essex.
I got what I suppose was just ordinary spam - some hot totty no doubt. However, it was from Me. Darn. What do I do about that?
Now that emails are in strings of conversation, quite legitimate e's show 'Me' in bold. I've consigned it to spam for now but have to keep looking to check the spam bucket.
Kaspersky. I'm not at all sure about this. Barclays bank gives it free with three seats, and it seems too good to miss, but sometimes I have to turn it off to pay some account or another simply because I can't get past their screen. Daft, I call it.
Now that emails are in strings of conversation, quite legitimate e's show 'Me' in bold. I've consigned it to spam for now but have to keep looking to check the spam bucket.
Kaspersky. I'm not at all sure about this. Barclays bank gives it free with three seats, and it seems too good to miss, but sometimes I have to turn it off to pay some account or another simply because I can't get past their screen. Daft, I call it.
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 7,056
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From: London
Just before Christmas I had an email from my old friend Chief Eze....
I'd missed the old b****** who used to email me daily in the mid 00's
I presume either someone hit the wrong button or perhaps thought that the "oldies are the goodies"
PS There actually WAS a real Chief Eze - but he was damn site more dubious than any Nigerian 419 spam merchant
I'd missed the old b****** who used to email me daily in the mid 00's
I presume either someone hit the wrong button or perhaps thought that the "oldies are the goodies"
PS There actually WAS a real Chief Eze - but he was damn site more dubious than any Nigerian 419 spam merchant
Guest
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 725
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From: Somewhere between E17487 and F75775
If you get an "invoice" or a "statement" attached to an e-mail
My German friends said today they are also receiving them in 'correct' German language format. I wonder how many other nationalities are receiving them ?
My German friends said today they are also receiving them in 'correct' German language format. I wonder how many other nationalities are receiving them ?
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 611
Likes: 62
From: Down under
A couple of days ago I had one from the "Australian Tax Office" advising of a refund from my 2014 tax statement and a nice "click here" box to initiate the transfer 
I haven't filed a tax return for five years - I no longer need to.
Actually my ISP spam filter had trapped this one and held it at the server. A routine mailbox spam check revealed this specimen and a few others of clearly dubious origin.
It's worth checking this facility (spam filter) if you ISP has one. Just occasionally there can be a false positive which means a genuine and valid email can be withheld. However 95% of the time it's very effective in stopping the undesirables.
FOR
I haven't filed a tax return for five years - I no longer need to.
Actually my ISP spam filter had trapped this one and held it at the server. A routine mailbox spam check revealed this specimen and a few others of clearly dubious origin.
It's worth checking this facility (spam filter) if you ISP has one. Just occasionally there can be a false positive which means a genuine and valid email can be withheld. However 95% of the time it's very effective in stopping the undesirables.
FOR
