Older Computer Virus Hoax and Fraudulent E-mail Alerts

Fraudulent E-mails include phishing scams (attempts at identity and account theft), e-mail confidence scams (Nigerian scam format), lottery schemes and other fraudulent messages.

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating

The following are examples of Fraudulent E-mail reported by ISU's faculty and staff:
- E-mail that appears to be sent from Chartway Federal Credit Union <service@chartway.com> with the subject of "Notification of Limited Account Access"
- E-mail that appears to be sent from security@chase.com with the subject of "Dear client of Chase Bank"
- E-mail that appears to be sent from Capital One <admin@cp.com> or Paypal <admin@pp.com> with the subject of "Capital One Online Alert: account is on hold"
- E-mail that appears to be sent from support@flagstar.com with the subject of "Flagstar Informs You!"

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account or personal information.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your trash.

Please see http://www1.indstate.edu/oit1/userservices/ithelp/security/virus.html for more information and other alerts.

Updated by: Andrea at 10:47am on December 19, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating

The following are examples of Fraudulent E-mail reported by ISU's faculty and staff:
- E-mail that appears to be sent from PayPal <acct.serv@paypal.com> With the subject of "Receipt for your payment"
- E-mail that appears to be sent from postcards@postcards1001.com that says: "You have just received a virtual postcard from a family member!.You can pick up your postcard at the following web address: http://www2.[addressremoved]/?a91-valets-cloud-31337" It is a virus e-mail. Please do not click on any of the included links as they will infect your computer with a virus.

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account or personal information.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your trash.

Please see http://www1.indstate.edu/oit1/userservices/ithelp/security/virus.html for more information and other alerts.

Updated by: Andrea at 8:58pm on December 13, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating

The following are examples of Fraudulent E-mail reported by ISU's faculty and staff:
- E-mail that appears to be sent from Amazon update@amazon.com with a subject of "Please verify and update your Amazon account ! "
- E-mail that appears to be sent from tax-refunds@irs.gov that claims the recipient is eligible to receive a tax refund.

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account or personal information.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 4:53pm on December 7, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating

The following are examples of Fraudulent E-mail reported by ISU's faculty and staff:
E-mail that appears to be sent from Account Online support@youraccount.com with a subject of "Account Important Notice"

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 8:15 pm on November 28, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating

The following are examples of Fraudulent E-mail reported by ISU's faculty and staff:
E-mail that appears to be sent from Skybank with a subject of "Security Center Advisory!"
E-mail that appears to be sent from MasterCard with a subject of "Security Update - Online Banking"

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 8:26 pm on November 16, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating

The following are examples of Fraudulent E-mail reported by ISU's faculty and staff:
E-mail that appears to be sent from Amazon with a subject of "Chase Corp. Consumer Notice"
E-mail that appears to be sent from Harris Bank with a subject of "Update Your Information"

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 8:15 pm on October 10, 2005

Amazon.com Fraudulent E-mail Circulating

E-mail that appears to be sent from Amazon with a subject of "Private Message From Amazon Accounts Management !!!" is a fraudulent e-mail.

This e-mails is false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
The help desk has received several reports of this e-mail being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 4:31 pm on October 5, 2005

Comfed and Chase Bank Fraudulent E-mail Circulating

E-mail that appears to be sent from Comfed Bank with a subject of "Comfed Bank Online Upda" (it may have random characters after) is a fraudulent e-mail.
E-mail that appears to be sent from Chase Bank (service@chase.com) with a subject of "Notice" is a fraudulent e-mail.

These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
The help desk has received several reports of this e-mail being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.

Please note that most banking institutions will not send e-mail asking you to submit your personal and/or financial information.
Updated by: Andrea at 7:31 pm on October 4, 2005

Part-Time Job Opportunity Scam Circulating
An e-mail that appears to be sent with a subject of "Part-Time Job Opportunity" is a scam.
The e-mail is false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
The help desk has received several reports of this e-mail being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 5:00 pm on September 12, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating: Sky Bank
An e-mail that appears to be sent from Sky Bank with a subject of "Account Information Update" is a fraudulent e-mail.
The e-mail is false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
The help desk has received several reports of this e-mail being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Please note that most banking institutions will not send e-mail asking you to submit your personal and/or financial information.
Updated by: Andrea at 8:28 pm on August 26, 2005

Fraudulent E-mails Circulating: Amazon, Sky Bank, and LaSalle Bank.
An e-mail that appears to be sent from "AMAZON NOTICE: Sercurity Account Update", "Notification of LaSalle Bank Internet Banking Account" and "Notification of Sky Bank Internet Banking Account", "System maintenance: update your Federal Credit Union" (possibly sent from "eBay Safe Harbour"), are fraudulent e-mails.
These e-mails are false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
The help desk has received several reports of these e-mails being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 7:48 pm on June 15, 2005

Ebay Fraudulent E-mail Circulating
An e-mail that appears to be sent from "Securely eBay Confirmation" is a fraudulent e-mail.
The e-mail is false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail and do not give out your account information.
The help desk has received several reports of this e-mail being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 7:48 pm on June 1, 2005

Paypal Fraudulent E-mail Circulating
An e-mail that appears to be sent from Paypal Account Review is a fraudulent e-mail.
The e-mail is false and should not be taken seriously. Please do not click on any of the links included within the e-mail.
The help desk has received several reports of this e-mail being received by ISU’s staff and faculty.
If you receive one of the e-mails you should delete the message and empty it from your
trash.
Updated by: Andrea at 8:27 am on April 8, 2005

"Phisher" Scams
Scams were common in 2004 and will most likely continue into 2005. Common scams include what are called  "Phisher Scams". This is an e-mail or Web site designed to resemble an official company  which collects personal and financial information such as a bank, credit card company, eBay or Paypal. These e-mails urge the recipient to update their contact information with a credit card company or bank account in order to keep an account from being terminated. More information on Phisher scams can be found here.
Updated by: Andrea at 3:29 pm on February 14, 2005

 

Outstanding Student Honor Society

March 5, 2004:   The following message has been sent out by email. It is possibly a hoax: Congratulations. This academic year, Outstanding Student Honor Society invites you to apply for membership. Because you are a student of Indiana State University, we welcome your application.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 1:40 pm

Life is Beautiful Hoax

May 23, 2003:   The following message has been sent out by email. It is a hoax. It contains information such as "This information arrived this morning, from Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet.
You may receive an apparently harmless email with a PowerPoint presentation called "Life is beautiful.pps."".... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 11:48 am

WTC Virus Hoax

September 9, 2002:   The following message has been sent out by email. It is a hoax. It contains information such as "If you receive an email called "WTC Survivor" do not open it. Delete it right away! This virus removes all dynamic link libraries (.dll files) from your computer.".... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 9:20 am

Jdbgmgr.exe file Hoax (also known as the Teddy Bear Hoax)

May 16, 2002:   This is a hoax that, like the SULFNBK.EXE Warning hoax, tries to persuade you to delete a legitimate Windows file from your computer. The file that the hoax refers to, Jdbgmgr.exe, is a Java Debugger Manager. It is a Microsoft file that is installed when you install Windows.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 12:12 pm

SULFNBK.EXE file Hoax

January 14, 2002: (originally posted May 31, 2001)  Warning: The following message has been sent out by email. It is a hoax. Please DO NOT follow the instructions below. The file in question, SULFNBK.EXE, is a legitimate application and does not need to be remove.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 12:30 pm

Nimda Fix Hoax

October 1, 2001:   Important Note: Computer security firm SecurityFocus said it is not the author of an e-mail and file attachment claiming to be a fix for the recent Nimda worm.
In a warning posted to the company's "Incidents" mailing list yesterday, the San Mateo, Calif.-based company said it believes the attachment could be a Trojan horse program that could damage users' systems if opened.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 2:12 pm

Urgent Business/John O. Okeke Hoax (Nigerian Hoax model)

June 29, 2001:   The following email is a hoax: Dear Sir, May I draw you attention to my quest for assistance. My name is Mr. John O. Okeke, I am an attorney at Law and a brother to Mrs. Mariam Abacha (Nee. Okeke), the wife of the late General Sani Abacha. Late General Sani Abacha was Nigerian Head of State untill his sudden death in office on Monday 8th June, 1998.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 3:26 pm

FROM:RAHEEM AHMED Hoax (Nigerian Hoax model)

January 31, 2001:   The following email is a hoax: "FROM:RAHEEM AHMED ATTN:XXXXXXX
I would like to firstly send to you the best wishes of good health and success in your pursuits particularly through my proposal as contained in this letter. Before going into details of my proposal to you, I must first solicit you to treat with the utmost confidentiality, as this is required for its success.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 9:22 am

ALERT CONCERNING HOAX/VIRUS WARNINGS

July 20, 2000:  Hoax warnings are typically scare tactics started by malicious people who are trying to create a panic in the internet community. If you are still not sure if a virus warning is a hoax, please forward the email to IT-Help@indstate.edu, but please do not forward the email to anyone else. If this virus is found to be legitimate, Office of Information Technology will notify the ISU Community via Global Email. Characteristics of Virus Hoax email.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 4:40 pm

Let's Watch TV Hoax

February 8, 2000:  The following message has been sent out by email. It is a hoax. This "virus" does not exist. The hoax message includes the following "warning": OFFICIAL IBM VIRUS WARNING. PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU HAVE AN  E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR.***** THIS IS NO JOKE - PAY ATTENTION: ******** If you receive an email titled "Lets watch TV" DO NOT OPEN IT.... [full article]
Updated by: Andrea at 1:06 pm

Other virus hoax resources: