I haven’t seen this email threat yet, but I do get dozens of other threats in email EVERY day…including paypal, ebay, multiple banks and more used in phishing attemptes to steal my login data. I simply roll over the link, and if it’s NOT the URL I expect, I kill the email.

Notice of this new threat below is making the rounds of the web, so DON’T get bit by an attempt to open anything from the FBI. If it’s REALLY the FBI, they’ll be at your front door…flashing badges…

Rich

U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Washington D.C.

FBI National Press Office

FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT E-MAIL SCHEME

E-mails purporting to come from FBI are phony

Washington, D.C. - The FBI is warning the public to avoid falling victim to
an on-going mass e-mail scheme wherein computer users received unsolicited
e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI. These scam e-mails tell the recipients
that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have
accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an
attachment and answer questions.

The e-mail appears to be sent from the e-mail addresses of mail@fbi.gov,
post@fbi.gov and admin@fbi.gov. There may be other similarly styled
addresses. The recipient is enticed to open the zip attachment which
contains a variant of the w32/sober virus. If the program within the zip
attachment is executed then the virus is launched and may affect the user’s
computer.

The text of the email is as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison
Federal Bureau of Investigation-FBI-

These e-mails did not come from the FBI. Recipients of this or similar
solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of
sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner.

Opening e-mail attachments from an unknown sender is a risky and dangerous
endeavor as such attachments frequently contain viruses that can infect the
recipient’s computer. The FBI strongly encourages computer users not to open
such attachments. For detailed information on the effects of running this
virus please log onto http://www.cert.org .

The FBI takes this matter seriously and is investigating. Users are
instructed to delete the e-mail without opening it.

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