The FBI today (May 3, 2011) issued a warning about emails that feature Usama bin Laden photos or videos but which actually contain malware that will infect your computer. The FBI warns that viruses are often programmed to steal your personally identifiable information.
The FBI offers this advice:
- Adjust the privacy settings on social networking sites you frequent to make it more difficult for people you know and do not know to post content to your page. Even a “friend” can unknowingly pass on multimedia that’s actually malicious software.
- Do not agree to download software to view videos. These applications can infect your computer.
- Read e-mails you receive carefully. Fraudulent messages often feature misspellings, poor grammar, and nonstandard English.
- Report e-mails you receive that purport to be from the FBI. Criminals often use the FBI’s name and seal to add legitimacy to their fraudulent schemes. In fact, the FBI does not send unsolicited e-mails to the public. Should you receive unsolicited messages that feature the FBI’s name, seal, or that reference a division or unit within the FBI or an individual employee, report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
Yes, you should be alert to potential scams. And of course you should use the latest versions of a reputable security product and install all the security patches for your operating system and applications. But you need to do more. You need a product that will identify legitimate emails from many of the leading consumer brands. Distinguishing real email from fake email is hard. Unless you have the right tool.
Know Who. No Doubt. Use eMail ID.