Paypal Virus Warning!

[GunnerRob]

Everyone,

I just received, and am contiuing to recieve, PayPay email warnings that my account is about to expire.

DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS!!!

According to Symantec this is a worm called W32.Mimail. It requests credit card information be sent to itself. DON'T DO THIS!

I have an email messsage to my ISP asking what to do about this and I'll post their response here as soon as I get it.

Stay tuned.

[GunnerRob]

Here's the link to the Symantec page that describes this virus and how to remove it.

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.mimail.removal.tool.html

[GunnerRob]

They (ISP) doesn't provide viurs scanning on their email servers so I'm on my own.

That's it.

I hope no one has had problems with this virus yet. Good luck.

Rob

[Arizona240z]

While the subject is brought up you can check your compure for a virus by going to trend micro free virus checker Just because your computer is running fine doesn't mean you don't have a virus on it. Most of them run in a hidden mode and are looking to more than mess up your computer anymore. They are looking for passwords and credit card info and they get this by recording every keystroke you make.

I sell this stuff for a living..... you don't need to get this products but get an anti-virus program now if you don't have one. Stick with Trend Micro, Symantec or McAfee. These three are the big three and have the fastest response times to new viruses as they come out.

If you ever get an email such a the one from Paypal asking for credit card info DO NOT use the links in the email. They are for spoofed pages. If you are curious about whatever the claim is in the email, open a new window and go to that website, login and check to see if they do need info. 99.9% of the time they won't.

Ok, that's enough of my rant...

[Bambikiller240]

The information below the line is a direct cut and paste from an email I just received from PayPal:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keep Your Account Safe

At PayPal, we are committed to providing our members with secure service. However, we also need our members to be partners in this commitment to keep their accounts safe. Remember to follow these four tips to help ensure the safety of your PayPal account:

Safely access the PayPal website or your PayPal account by opening up a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Netscape, or similar web browsers) and typing in the entire PayPal URL:

https://www.paypal.com/

Never give out the following information in a suspicious-looking email that appears to come from PayPal:

- First name, last name, business name

- Email and password combination

- Credit card, bank account, and PIN number

- Social security and driver's license number

Remember that PayPal will never ask you to enter your private information in an email.

Do not download attachments, software updates, or any application to your computer via a link you received in an email. PayPal will not ask you to download anything for your account to work.

Choose a unique password and change it every 30-60 days.

For more safety tips, visit our Security Center.

[texasz]

I'm with Arizona240z, do NOT EVER send this type of info to anyone who blindly contacts you asking for it.

Two words (can you say): IDENTY THEFT

[GunnerRob]

Arizona240z, when I saw what the email wanted I immediately did exactly what you suggested (open a new window and check it out). That's when I shut the worm email down and went to Symantec to investigate. Thanks for the trend micro tip. I had to let my Norton subscsription expire due to financial reasons, but I'm a firm believer in anti-virus protection.

texasz, I'm glad you expanded on the dangers of situations like this. Identity theft is the ultimate nightmare that should be punishable by death by stoning! It can completely ruin a persons/family's financial life.

Bambikiller240, thanks for retrieving that from Paypal for our benefit. We read these notices when we apply for their services but don't usually don't review them thereafter.

[26th-Z]

I get these e-mails all the time, from supposedly Paypal, eBay, and my internet provider. They all have an investigation site and you can fight back by FORWARDING the suspicious e-mail to them. Paypal's is spoof@paypal.com

Since we are on the topic, I have noticed a lot of virus containing e-mails, lately. Some of them are "about your order", "order confirmation", "your parts order", and "information about your parts request". At first, I thought about identitiy theft as I didn't order anything or didn't request anything and it looked suspicious. The virus software usually picks it up, but I am discussing this with words of caution. Keep track of what you order and what you request. Take a look at your accounts every now and then or get them to send you a monthly statement. Virus software can not be over-emphasized. It's a stormy climate out there - slap a raincoat on that computer!