• FBI Warns of Email Scam

    FBI Warns of Email Scam

    Techtree News Staff, Nov 22, 2005 1446 hrs IST

    The FBI has issued a warning about scam e-mails that tell computer users their Internet use is monitored by the agency.

    mail share

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a press note warning the public to avoid falling victim to an on-going mass e-mail scheme, wherein computer users received unsolicited e-mails supposedly sent by the FBI.

These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the agency, and that they have accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions.

The e-mail appears to be sent from the e-mail addresses of mail@fbi.gov and admin@fbi.gov. There may be other similarly styled addresses. The recipient is enticed to open the zip attachment, which contains a w32/sober.jen@mm worm. The attachment does not open and its goal is to utilize the recipient's computer to garner information.

The virus also allows the e-mail to be forwarded to all those listed in the recipient s address book. The FBI post goes on to cite an example of the spurious mails.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions is attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison
Federal Bureau of Investigation-FBI-
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW , Room 3220
Washington , DC 20535
Phone: (202) 324-30000

The FBI maintains that it takes this matter seriously and is investigating it. The release says, "These e-mails did not come from the FBI. 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."

While the address and phone number for the FBI is correct in the email, users receiving e-mails of this nature are encouraged to report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center via http://www.ic3.gov.

Follow Techtree on Twitter

Related Links
AOL, Yahoo to Charge for Emails
Finding Demo 5
Logitech G13 Gameboard Launched
Tag keywords
FBI Warns of Email Scam



Discussion Board
adi narayana pr
,bangalore, on Jun 17, 2008 07:43 PM
stop the mails to my email id please
Report abuse
nagireddi
,vijayawada, on Mar 27, 2008 03:59 PM
scamed email addresses
Report abuse
Claudia Wagner
,Riverdale, on Jul 26, 2006 12:43 AM
I having a question. I realy would like to know about the email I received about some company from China, (I realy hope it's not a scam) because they looking for sales reps. in USA. I have my own company, and I answer to them, because I'll be happy to place some advertisement for they product. Did you know about something? Please, it's only business oporunity for me, but only if it's legal. Are they coud be a criminal?
Report abuse
GVrcwilbVd
,GVrcwilbVd, on Feb 21, 2006 12:17 AM
tOs6avX4Xlg QF1Hqgls5B MLC0La2TXb
Report abuse
2jP3UNC9ej
,2jP3UNC9ej, on Feb 11, 2006 08:31 AM
XUeK9vuams 4Q0ZFl1G2Ca LjzRAuYV3h
Report abuse
sE0NPGD4Ot
,sE0NPGD4Ot, on Feb 02, 2006 04:45 AM
hLWsJibVpG gHTHTUYuM4V 2jdIacYczEDky7
Report abuse
Cheryl Barson
,London, England, on Nov 22, 2005 07:19 PM
I have received this e-mail in the UK and have forwarded the problem to Tiscali
Report abuse
Dona
,York, on Dec 05, 2005 11:02 PM
I too have recieved this dumb mail ,& I fail to see why we are still talking about it!
Report abuse
lourdes arevalo
,brea, on Nov 22, 2005 10:52 PM
i have been recieving bogus e-mails stating that i have funds in the millions waiting to be put into my bank account and they do want me to provide them with all my personal info. i have not done so because i know it is a scam. i have been getting them since 11/14/05. i do trash them. i get about 7 to 10 emails a day. how do i stop it???please help...
Report abuse
pamukund
,Mumbai, on Nov 23, 2005 02:15 AM
How do you know they are bogus if you do not reply and trash them ? May be once you collect your funds, they will have no further reason to remind you and send more emails..
Report abuse
Balaji
,New Delhi, on Nov 23, 2005 12:39 PM
I guess most of these mails are from African countries stating the dictator or a general has hidden the money and so on..... This is termed as a Nigerian 417 (or something) scam and it clearly documented. Nice move to junk these mails, as there have been reports of people getting hurt or worse killed following up this wild goose chase...
Report abuse
Eagle
,Tucson, on Nov 23, 2005 12:47 PM
About the only suggestion I can offer is to block the sender's address. If your e-mail doesn't have an easily accesible button to do this, consult the help menu or call the e-mail client provider. No offense to the poster from Mumbai, but any e-mail that offers you millions without giving you a phone number to call, and only at the cost of your personal information is a low class Phishing attempt. If my advice doesn't help, talk to your e-mail provider and see what they can do for you to help stop this. Good luck with your plight. -Eagle
Report abuse
Arjun
,Bangalore, on Nov 23, 2005 02:41 PM
balaji, i think that what he is refering is slightly different from the african spam. i've got both types of mails in the past. the one in question mentions some warehouse which has chosen you to receive a free gift worth x$ and they sometimes mention what ur choices are and ask you to reply. the african one (at least what i recall from what i got) is about some guy who needs a safe place to keep his money and he'd like to use ur bank account.
Report abuse
simon
,coventry uk, on Nov 28, 2005 10:14 PM
Get Firefox to handle e-mail and educate it to what is rubbish. It will delete it for you.
Report abuse
Paula
,Los Angeles, on Nov 22, 2005 08:33 PM
Last night I received the FBI scam email and this morning I received three more copies. Then just two minutes ago I received an identical mail that claimed to be from the CIA with address/telephone number and the same looking zip file attached.
Report abuse
Rick Sanford
,Fostoria, OH, on Nov 27, 2005 04:33 PM
Hi Paula, I had been wondering about all these emails I was getting. I've been getting about 30 of them a day, and have been blocking all of them. Guess we'll just have to put up with it until these guys are caught.
Report abuse
Joe
,Tennessee, on Nov 27, 2005 03:31 AM
How did they manage to get the email id ending with @fbi.gov. that would have spooked anyone
Report abuse
Jason Lawrence
,Mumbai, on Nov 25, 2005 08:17 PM
thsi info is great . that email had given me jitters thanks to your info i sent a complaint to the fbi . i sure do hope the fbi gets these guys
Report abuse
Bruce Pollard
,Montebello, on Nov 23, 2005 11:38 PM
I've been searching the internet for a good, concise report on this issue. Not on msn... not on cnn. Yours was even better than CNET! Thanks.
Report abuse
M.Murali
,Madurai, on Nov 23, 2005 05:16 PM
I had mails saying I had been select for Green Card Processing. I send money thru Western Union.
Report abuse
Gurmukh Singh
,Chandigarh, on Nov 23, 2005 04:37 PM
This is an excellent piece of awareness
Report abuse
Simran
,Ahemedabad, on Nov 22, 2005 03:17 PM
Yes the FBI is taking the matter seriously then i'm sure the issue will be resolved fast, thankfully it is the FBI at it. How can we kill all these spam senders in one shot. Bhagvan mujhe shakti de!!!!!!!!
Report abuse
Giri
,Mumbai, on Nov 22, 2005 10:55 PM
Lol....Very Very Filmi filmi...;)
Report abuse
Arjun
,Bangalore, on Nov 23, 2005 02:48 PM
call agent mulder and agent scully....
Report abuse
duke
,tampa, on Nov 22, 2005 10:44 PM
with all due respect with language useage; i have seen more real craps than this. basically this act from the real FBI is unnecessary; because this email can only fool 5-year olds.
Report abuse
Arjun
,Bangalore, on Nov 23, 2005 02:47 PM
u'd be surprised how many idiotic adults actually fall for these and similar things. how do you explain ppl getting hurt from the african spam mentioned in one of the other posts?
Report abuse
Kat
,Plano, on Nov 23, 2005 12:27 AM
Here is one of the articles
Report abuse
John M
,mtl, on Nov 22, 2005 04:11 PM
every one plase watch your email please
Report abuse
Bill
,Atlanta, on Nov 22, 2005 09:17 PM
What a clever remark! Thank you for that pearl of wisdom...
Report abuse
Charlie Blitzst
,Philadelphia, on Nov 22, 2005 09:13 PM
I have received over 2000 of the emails from the FBI, CIA and postmaster at several other sites in less than 24 hours. I am the webmaster of several sites so all unassigned email addresses come to my mailbox. Even though i run Mac Os X and not vulnerable to the virus attached, it does clog the email boxes, causing some to bounce incoming legitimate emails.
Report abuse

Opinion Poll