WARNING....VIRUS ALERT

[CTB2800]

Attention MSTS community, a wide spread virus alert is effecting the MSTS community, i have been reciving e-mails with @train-sim.com and @atomic-systems.com which have been falsified but contain and convincing title and text in the e-mail. but have an attached virus to them, if you get any e-mails like this, report it to your abuse line. I recived one this morning from removed saying he needed my help but had "netsky@32b.exe" attached to it. We must put a stop to this madness of e-mail abuse

Matthew

Moderator Note: Edited to remove potentially libellous information

[baldwin]

Sadly, there is not much that your ISP abuse line can do about these. What we have here is one or more community members who are infected by the backdoor trojan of that name. This is using the victims address book to trawl for email addys which it then uses to construct new addys with. These are then used with a convincing message and sent to the intended recipients. The fact that you got one is pure coincidence.

Mervyn

[markw]

I started getting false ukts e-mails with viruses the day after I loaded up a file with a "public" e-mail address I use for such things, and it has made up infected e-mails using the first part of my address. My machine is clean as it is swept regularly and my virus checker updated regularly, but it doesn't stop me getting returned virus mails and warnings that I have sent an infected mail from all over the world. However, one return message from Redditch Borough Council (and I don't have any addresses for that council so I know it never originated from me) was of interest. It read:

A message sent to this authority from your address appears to be
infected with a virus.

It may be that your address is being 'spoofed' and that you did not
personally send this message. If this is the case we apologise for this
notification.

It is the policy of this organisation not to deliver such messages, and
the intended recipient has been made aware that this email has not been
delivered.

I actually suspect this is some sort of virus generating spambot because if it was reading an address book the address lines would actually be correct, surely, not obviously false ones like "ukts@admin.co.uk" which I got recently. The return message seems to suggest that as well.

One other thing - the Yahoo address I use has a spamguard which automatically diverts these virii into a bulk mail folder, and as they are always 41k with an attachment, and with an obviously false address, I just delete them.

[Timcourt1]

Also keep an eye out for "webmaster@trainsimaddons.com" I recieved this today at RailDriver, subject "Controller" this must have been from a community member out there somewhere or someone who has tapped into the Train sim community, seems strange how there has been a spate of this recently.

The attachment was irellavant to the subject - I got as far as hovering my finger over the mouse button! pretty close call!

Tim

[Lad491]

After a lengthy spell when i was receiving up to 25 virus infected e mails a day, or notifications that I had sent one, which I hadn't, they eventually died out and just lately ive not had any.

lets hope its not going to start all over again

[asalmon]

Its the notifications for ones you didn't send that are really annoying - I get more duff bouce messages than I do actual spam and viruses!

[kotter]

Several months ago I received a suspect e-mail where I was pretty sure some clever piece of software had taken a contact out of my own address book and inserted it in the “senderâ€

[CTB2800]

Yea, i got one from myself this mornin containin "help_my_shower@32r.exe" this morning. i sent a very formal complaint to yahoo about it as i am getting quite pissed off with it

Matthew