Email Hoax

There are a variety of worms and viruses being distributed over the internet. The subject line will refer to a software update, a support incident, a receipt or something else that sounds perfectly legitimate. The message body usually says something like "details enclosed", "see attachment" or some other inducement to tempt you to open the attachment. If you open the attachment a script or executable will run on your computer which at best will add all the names in your address book to the list the worm uses to send out viruses. It may also use those names as return addresses for the infected mail it sends. At worst it will also corrupt the boot sector and file allocation table on your hard drive.

Many of these malicious email messages use trusted email address such as Microsoft, Dell, Adobe, HP and other familiar names in hope that a user will open the attachment. We at J. Hepple, Inc. never send software as email attachments nor do we send out bulk email.

You can often see who really sent the message by viewing the header without opening the attachment. See your mail client for details or the University of Delaware Police have a very good page that will show you how to view email headers in many client apps:

University of Delaware Police