Spyware, viruses, & security : E-Card from Bluemountain.com
Classmates ?
by monmlee - 8/14/07 7:46 AM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by MimamarieToo funny, I receive a minimum of five of these a week from classmates.
NOT ONE Single person I graduated with thirty years ago knows of the email address I'm getting these at, so it's amazing to be getting all the attention.
Stupid spammers won't ever know I have deleted every single one of those without ever opening any.
E-Mails perported to be from Neibhours
by hwbg00955 - 8/14/07 1:25 AM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big Stevefrequently of late these invitations arrive. Have never clicked on same never will (Caution) There seem to be so many scams.
H
Others gave GOOD advice -- another little tip to use
by MichieS - 8/14/07 8:36 AM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big SteveYou can check the suspected link for its REAL address, therefore verifying that it is 'phony' -- comparing it to the bogus name given link. Just pass the mouse cursor over the supposedly good link (CAREfully -- you don't want to CLICK, just read it). The actual full address will show in the STATUS bar.
[I'm using Firefox, there should be a similar capability in Internet Explorer (and other browsers). On Firefox, make you sure let Status Bar show by checking VIEW | Status Bar.]
Be careful: sometimes the 'good' name appears (as sub folder) later in the bogus address -- but it is not the KEY IP (which looks like 123.45.56.789).
By the way, you can use this on ALL suspected bogus Inet addresses -- like 'banks' that want to 'check' your account, etc.
BUT -- if you KNOW the email is phony, by means, just delete it fast -- as others here have suggested.
Re: Others gave GOOD advice -- another little tip to use
by Big Steve - 8/14/07 10:54 AM In reply to: Others gave GOOD advice -- another little tip to use by MichieSI also receive several emails a week from banks requesting that I sign into their website and update my personal banking information; banks I've never heard of nor do I have an account with. The way I know they're phony; either the username or the email address the bank's email is addressed to isn't mine; it's somebody else's.
I have the free AVG AV installed on both of my computers and that's the only thing I don't like about AVG AV when it comes to the handling of all of my incoming email; I get "ALL" the incoming email sent directly to my inbox; when I had Panda Internet Security 2006 last year Panda IS 2006 set up a folder which their program labeled SPAM and all of the incoming "junk" emails went directly to that SPAM folder.
My AVG doesn't work like the Panda IS 2006 did but that's a minor inconvenience considering the fact that the AVG AV is free and it seems to work pretty good although it does state at the bottom of every incoming email that the email has been scanned and that no viruses were found. If an email like these e-card emails comes through or one like I receive this morning from a sender addressed simply to me; no note in the subject line; I delete those kind of emails immediately.
Big Steve
08/14/07
Wanting to Protect Myself & My Contacts.....
by tobeach - 8/14/07 10:29 PM In reply to: Re: Others gave GOOD advice -- another little tip to use by Big SteveALL mail I send in the SUBJECT line Displays IF & What& # of attachments are included along w/ my name & AVG scanned OK. Example:
"Att'd 4 JPEGS of new kittens hope u like! Sandy Avg scanned OK!" OR:
"Hi, Here's Addie You Wanted. Text & 1 live link encl.Sandy AVG-OK!"
IF I receive an UN-EXPECTED messqge from contact with an Attachment, I contact them by phone or e-mail & inquire: Did you mail me an attachment?
Reason for this is: they may not know they have a mass mailing worm onboard & not know mail is being sent from their addie.
Every little bit helps. 
Post Card Virus
by millie sue - 8/17/07 5:26 PM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big SteveI received a post card from a former school mate too.
the post card was suppose to be from 123 greetings.com
which I have used. However --- I was leary and did not open
the email.
Re: Post Card Virus
by Big Steve - 8/17/07 6:26 PM In reply to: Post Card Virus by millie sueMillie Sue that was very smart of you.
Big Steve
08/17/07
E-cards from bluemountain.com
by blueeyes49 - 8/17/07 9:49 PM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big SteveYes i also received one e-card from bluemountain.com that said it was from a class mate i actually did open it but my antivirus told me that there was a trojan horse on it so i closed and deleted it so no don't open any of those emails!
blueeyes
Re: E-cards from bluemountain.com
by Big Steve - 8/17/07 10:26 PM In reply to: E-cards from bluemountain.com by blueeyes49Oh blueeyes I bet you would have had redeyes had you not had any AV to stop that trojan; you get my meaning?
Big Steve
08/17/07
False e-cards
by AnnJ05 - 8/17/07 11:53 PM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big SteveHi,
I have been getting those cards from all sorts of companies. I accidentally clicked on one and sure enough a Trojan appeared and got rid of it!
AnnJ
E-Card from Blue Mountain.com
by castaway - 8/18/07 8:01 AM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big SteveOver the past few months I have received mail from the above and also from our bank (supposedly). Apparently these are all scams. I was told by out bank not to click on any of the links in the emails and also not to click on link for the ecards. Fortunately our internet provider put all these into the junk mail folder and I always go to their site and check through these to make sure that I get all my legitimate mail. I would not open anything that is suspicious and my friends ususally let me know if they are sending me an ecard
Support Genuine E-Cards! — Don't Just DELETE the Imposters!
by lodave - 8/18/07 2:30 PM In reply to: E-Card from Bluemountain.com by Big SteveOver fifty posts on this thread, yet nobody has yet pointed out that there are a considerable number of trustworthy, genuine, and reliable e-card companies out there that may be trying to send cards to you!
Personally I subscribe to several services, including Blue Mountain (now a subsidiary of American Greetings), and send dozens every year at a cost far below that of buying traditional cards and subsidizing the snailmail junk mailers with ever-increasing 1st Class US Postage!
DO NOT JUST DELETE THESE VIRUS-VECTOR PHONY E-CARDS!
FORWARD EVERY ONE TO SPAM@FTC.GOV
FIGHT AGAINST SPAM AND ON-LINE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY BY JOINING ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS CAUCE.ORG, SPAMCOP.NET, CASTLECOPS.COM & KNUJON.COM WHICH GATHER, SORT, AND REPORT ALL MANNER OF SPAM TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES AND THE LEGITIMATE COMPANIES AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WHOSE CUSTOMERS AND CLIENTS ARE POTENTIAL VICTIMS.
Please keep in mind that these spam and fraud-fighting organizations are largely volunteer groups, but they do have expenses, and though they have limited free services, memberships or subscriptions are encouraged, so please support them by donating their modest fees. Unfortunately there are also scammers in this arena, so do some careful research if you elect to support other than the four above.
How to tell the real cards from the virus-vector spam?
1. Genuine cards will ALWAYS have the NAME of the sender and their known EMAIL ADDRESS displayed in the header and repeated in the body of the card announcement. The header will also include the sending address of the card company. The LEGITIMATE e-card companies never use generic collective terms such as Alumni, Friend, Coworker, Relative (any), Buddy, Love (or other endearing term)as the supposed sender!
2. As a previous post pointed out, the fraudulent cards use obfuscated links, i.e, the displayed link in the announcement, when you mouse-over it, WILL NOT MATCH that displayed in the Status Bar!
Look carefully at the link displayed at the bottom of the browser window and you will see that the actual domain (the name that immediately precedes the third slash in the URL) will not match the name of the spoofed card company.
3. Genuine card companies do not use 4-group IP numbers in their links, but the actual name of the company, e.g.
http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/ is a genuine contracted service of American Greetings used by Microsoft, but the link would not be displayed in your announcement as http://209.225.54.93
even though that is the actual equivalent.
4. Lastly, there are a number of online e-card companies that do
install tracking cookies or other spyware, so before using any
of these, check them out at McAfee SiteAdvisor, another great tool!
In short, use and enjoy genuine e-cards, but BE CAUTIOUS and
SEND THE PHONY MESSAGES to SPAM@UCE.GOV (and/or anti-spam groups).
Read also the excellent article on phony e-greetings at
Snopes.com [ http://tinyurl.com/2ykt7f ].
Re: Support Genuine E-Cards! - Don't Just DELETE the Impost
by Big Steve - 8/18/07 10:17 PM In reply to: Support Genuine E-Cards! — Don't Just DELETE the Imposters! by lodaveSorry "lodave" but the times in which we now live in with all of the new security threats computer users are exposed to on a daily basis if I'm not expecting to receive one of those emails or if I have reason to suspect that someone is attempting to expose my computers to potential security threats; sorry to hurt your feelings but I'm still going to delete them; all of them.
Big Steve
08/18/07
Why Not Just Send a Personal E-Mail?
by tobeach - 10/7/08 10:55 PM In reply to: Support Genuine E-Cards! — Don't Just DELETE the Imposters! by lodaveGiven the risks and the frequency of malicious cards received AND given the Time & Effort to attempt to determine if real or fake as described above, Why not send a e_mail which, if known &/or expected, won't require such extensive scrutiny??
I'm sorry, but I ONLY delete E-Cards & I blame the Legit industry for not doing a better job of protecting their turf in the past, to the point of virtual destruction of the credibility of the medium!
Better safe than sorry keeps me functioning. 
Some ecards are worthy
by netdog00 - 10/12/08 4:13 PM In reply to: Why Not Just Send a Personal E-Mail? by tobeach>>Given the risks and the frequency of malicious cards received AND given the Time & Effort to attempt to determine if real or fake as described above, Why not send a e_mail which, if known &/or expected, won't require such extensive scrutiny??
I agree that email is safer. But people are more experienced with the email safety (including ecard, phishing, banking spam, etc). Some ecards do convey more than simple emails. Check out the artistic, animated ecards from sites like http://www.ojolie.com and http://www.jacquielawson.com. With the personal touching messages, those beautiful ecards can almost replace the run-of-the-mill paper cards.
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