Please take extra care in sending around "warnings".
I checked this out on www.truthorfiction.com which I find to be very
accurate and easy to navigate.
Even when an e-mail says it is checked out - most times it is not.
Pat
"Mail Server" Virus Warming-Truth! & Fiction!
Summary of the eRumor:
A virus warning about an email that comes with a subject line
of "Mail Server Report." The message says that it is a bad virus.
The email is described as having a zip file attachment and says that
you have sent out an email with a virus in it and that if you click
the attachment, you can fix the problem. Another version says that
you will lose all the files on your PC and that the email is being
sent by a hacker named "life owner."
The Truth:
The "Mail Server Report" virus is real and began circulating in 2006.
Another version of the "Mail Server" virus warning began circulating
in 2008, however, that is a hoax.
It all gets very confusing.
The original email that was sent in 2006 warned of a real virus,
according virus protection sites such as Mcafee, Symantec, and F-
Secure. The email pretends to be warning you that it has been
determined that emails containing a worm are being sent from your
computer and that you should install the attachment to update your
computer and, presumably, stop the virus from being sent. The
problem is that the attachment itself is a virus so if you are duped
into opening it, it searches your computer for email addresses and
sends itself to them. F-Secure names the real virus as Warezov.
Other virus protection sites called it Stration.bb or W32/Stration-
X.
A second version began circulating in 2008 this is a hoax. It
claims that if you receive an email with the words "Mail Server
Report" and open it, you'll receive a message on your screen that
says "It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful" and that
you'll "lose everything on your PC." That actually borrows wording
from yet another virus hoax called "Life is Beautiful."
Be sure you have good virus protection software and that your virus
definitions are up to date.
Updated 4/2/08
A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:
Version #1
Alert everyone you know through e-mail not to open an e-mail
with "Mail Server Report" in subject line. I went to the link and it
is saying this one is "True" - BEWARE. Urgent This is a Bad Virus
Please don't open!
This one checks out and is a bona fide real virus so hence the
warning:
Any email with "Mail Server Report" in the subject line is a new
virus and should not be opened. It comes with an attachment in zip
format. Apparently there is a Zip file attached so be very leery of
any thing with a zip file attached to it.
The message tells you that a worm was detected in an e-mail that
you sent out and asks you to open and install the attachment
to 'fix' the problem. Only, the Zip File IS the problem! DO NOT DO
IT! Delete the e-mail.
This is a real threat.
Version #2
Anyone-using Internet mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail,
AOL and so on.
This information arrived this morning,
Direct from both Microsoft and Norton.
Please send it to everybody you know who has
access to the Internet.
You may receive an apparently harmless e-mail titled
'Mail Server Report'
If you open either file, a message will appear on your screen
saying: 'It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful.'
Subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC,
And the person who sent it to you will gain access to your
name, e-mail and password.
This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon.
AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the anti virus
software's are not capable of destroying it.
The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself
'life owner'.
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL
TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, And ask them to
PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY!
THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED
