email attachments

[lou33]

i keep getting emails from one particular person, that has no message but an attachment, with various names, but hotmail quarantine tham saying they are unsafe, so assuming it is a virus. This person is also saying they are receiving the same emails from me! Not getting them from anywhere else, just this one address, what's going on? Am getting normal emails from this address as well

It's possible that one of you is virus infected, but more likely that someone you both know is infected, and the virus is spoofing the email addresses. Both of you should double-check you're not infected (is your antivirus up-to-date?).

Perhaps the virus got in through your address book if your both getting them no?

think so. hotmail wont pass them onto me, but it's annoying. We don't know anyone else in common.

There's a good online virus check (free) here . But as hotmail won't let them through, you might not be infected, lou. Is your friend good with antivirus?

With full headers, it's sometimes possible to work out where a virus is coming from, but generally you can't get more information than which ISP, without some very serious digging and some luck.

just checked our anti virus software and it is all up running and up to date

will have a look at your link

am wondering if it is at that end, using a public computer to send emails..

thanks

nothing detected yet....

If you can get your friend to check as well, that'd be good. But if s/he finds nothing, odds are, it comes from someone who has both of you in their address book, in which case there's little you can do.

theyre using internet cafes, would that make a difference? We don't know anyone else in common

If they're using internet cafes then it is unlikely that the emails actually come from the person who they are supposedly from.

I would imagine that a 3rd person who has both of your emails on their computer is infected and the mails are coming from them - it doesn't have to be a friend, do either of you ever send out emails with lots of recipients? if so any one of those recipients could be the one who is infected.

Unless you can find that person, there's not a lot you can do about it, I'm afraid.

not me, but i don't know for them obviously

thanks tho

i catted you this morning , did you get it yet?

Some viruses even cull email addresses from webpages or random documents on infected computers. SenoraPostrophe is right, if the other person is using web cafs, it's unlikely they're the infected one.

Do you know what virus it is? Does hotmail tell you?

no they are attachments coming in either.col or .cpl

they say things like fotogallery, snake, animals

I haven't used this account to subscribe to anything, or given it out online. If someone had checked emails for me on my behalf, could it have got infected through their computer?

I'm pretty sure a hotmail account per se can't be infected, unless all of hotmail was, in which case almost everyone would be in trouble. Viruses live on computers, not in email accounts, if you see what I mean.

I can't find any reference online to this virus, but if Hotmail says it's a virus, it is.

Ok, DH is at hand, and says:

• the other person is using web cafes, which means their email details are in web cafe computers, which means their email addresses can be picked up and used as a destination for viruses, and as a fake source.
• looking in the full email headers will let you know if it's from your friend or from someone else. It might be possible to tell where it's from. The right thing to do is to then tell that person they're infected.

If you want to send me the full headers (not just To: From: but all of it ... see here .) via CAT, I can ask DH to have a glance.

These continual emails are really tiresome, and they will continue until whoever is infected gets fixed.

Cheers!

Have deleted the ones i ahve received so far, but will pass them on if i get anymore, really appreciate it