WARNING---there's a Fake BBB complaint e-mail

[huggytree]

i went into my e-mail this afternoon....and saw the word SPAM and then BBB Complaint....i didnt know what to do

i instantly got angry and started to think 'who the heck had an issue with me now''....i couldnt think of anyone...i clicked on the email

it then had an attachment(which i clicked on)....it said i was missing the application program for it to run....and i started to think some more....the BBB doesnt send E-mails....they give you a letter with complaints

im hoping because the attachment didnt really open up that i dont have a virus now....

[fayt]

That scam has been going around for about a year, I've gotten it about 8 times. It's very possible you have received the virus.

[huggytree]

it appeared in my e-mail again today


my new computer will be here tomorrow....so i dont care if i have a virus now or not

[billbenson]

Huggy, you committed a very basic procedural error for keeping viruses out of your systems. Most viruses come in the form of and email and tell you to click something. My mother sent a birthday card thing to my wife and an aniversery one to my sister in law. Unfortunately, in this case, they weren't virus's, but both my wife and my sister in law deleted them without opening them. They did the correct thing.

In general, never ever open a link in an email or attachment unless you are absolutely certain it's not a virus. Usually you can hover over the link with your mouse and it will say domain.cz ore domain.ru. Even if it says domain.com it doesn't mean its not a virus. If its a file attachment, frequently it's a .zip file. But it could be something else.

Sometimes you forget your password to a site such as amazon.com You reset the password on amazon and they say they will send you a link you need to click via email. Those are safe. You just requested it and you get it in two minutes.

You should worry about it if you do any online banking, purchase online, store passwords in a file on your pc, etc. Because in all likelyhood, someone else now has that info.