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A computer virus hoax is a message warning the recipients of a non-existent computer virus threat. The message is usually a chain e-mail that tells the recipients to forward it to everyone they know, but it can also be in the form of a pop-up window.
It is delivered by email (that is allegedly an invoice requiring payment) with an attached Microsoft Word document that contains malicious macros. [1] When the user opens the document, it appears to be full of gibberish, and includes the phrase "Enable macro if data encoding is incorrect," a social engineering technique.
ILOVEYOU, sometimes referred to as the Love Bug or Loveletter, was a computer worm that infected over ten million Windows personal computers on and after 5 May 2000. It started spreading as an email message with the subject line "ILOVEYOU" and the attachment "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs". [1]
Due to the widespread use of web bugs in email, simply opening an email can potentially alert the sender that the address to which the email is sent is a valid address. This can also happen when the mail is 'reported' as spam , in some cases: if the email is forwarded for inspection, and opened, the sender will be notified in the same way as if ...
Sometimes these emails can contain dangerous viruses or malware that can infect your computer by downloading attached software, screensavers, photos, or offers for free products. Additionally, be wary if you receive unsolicited emails indicating you've won a prize or contest, or asking you to forward a petition or email.
• Fake email addresses - Malicious actors sometimes send from email addresses made to look like an official email address but in fact is missing a letter(s), misspelled, replaces a letter with a lookalike number (e.g. “O” and “0”), or originates from free email services that would not be used for official communications.
A top scam of 2021, the fake invoice scam, is still happening in 2022.
It was designed to trick email users into opening an email attachment, ostensibly an image of Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova but instead hiding a malicious program. The virus arrived in an email with the subject line "Here you have, ;0)" and an attached file entitled AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs. [3]