A newly identified computer virus coming through e-mails is bugging the FBI—because the e-mails claim to come from the FBI itself.
These e-mails, according to the FBI, tell the recipient they’ve accessed illegal Websites and they’re being monitored online by what claims to be the bureau’s Internet fraud complaint center. Opening attachments purporting to be questionnaires launches the virus.
“These e-mails did not come from the FBI,” the bureau said in a statement. “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.”
The FBI advisory also includes a location for the bureau’s actual Internet Crime Complaint Center for complaints by anyone who received one of the bogus e-mails.
Earlier in February, the FBI shut down fbi.gov accounts used to communicate with the public because of an apparent security breach, but the FBI said that didn’t seem to have any tie to the new bogus e-mail virus scam. The FBI also said that as a rule of policy the bureau does not send unsolicited e-mail.
