Anatomy of the "Chain Letter" V Email

[dave]

Basically, anyone with an email address will get some form of this email:

Jesus is Lord!! Pass this along to everyone you know if you love Jesus!!

or

Missing girl! Pass this along...

or

Prostate Cancer awareness--pass this along..

You get the picture. Many times, it's an inpsirational message, a jab at a politician, a series of funny pics.. YOu get the idea. These will come via a friend or aquaintance, usually someone in your address book.

Here's the problem: There's always a hidden agenda with these emails. Many times, it's the pics you are looking at--they are taken from a server that in turn tells the spammer your email address is active--this allows them to add your address to tons of smammer lists. Other times, the email itself contains hidden links and code that contain spyware or malware. Here's some of the source code contained in a recent email to myself:
title=hxxp://promos.hotbar.com/promos/promodll.dll?RunPromo&El=&SG=&RAND=89878&partner=f astutility
href="hxxp://promos.hotbar.com/promos/promodll.dll?RunPromo&El
*links altered to avoid clicking

For those not familiar with "hotbar", it's a nasty spyware tool that places a search bar on your browser. Basically, if your computer wasn't properly protected, this email could install this malware without you knowing it.

Bottom line, If you feel you MUST foward these letters you recieve, recopy the email text, host your own pics, and send a fresh email from yourself.

[boss]

I would like to know how to get rid of hotbar. However, I very seldom forward these emails along.

[LucyLou]

Very good advice. Thanks Dave. I found out first hand about that nasty little Hotbar thing too. Thank goodness that's over with.

[CedarSam]

Thanx Dave...I knew they were up to no good!

[Jeff]

I work on computers all of the time that are completely riddled with spyware and viruses. Dave is completely right in that there is always some sort of hidden agenda in these emails, and you really shouldn't give them the time of say. There are a few things you can do that will save you a WORLD of hurt when it comes to your computer:

Keep your virus protection up to do date, and do weekly scans
Weekly spyware scans with a program like SpyBot Search and Destroy
Monitor what programs are installed on your machine, and remove those that are spyware
Be careful what you click yes to when a webpage pop's up some message saying you need something
Be careful what web pages you visit, you pick up some stuff just looking
Don't fool with emails from those you don't know
Be careful with peer 2 peer file sharing software, most of it is pure spyware
As soon as you notice somthing isn't right, take steps right then to correct it. The longer the system is infected the more likely you are to pick up more stuff


You would be suprised at how helpful google is at finding a fix to a particualr problem. Just search for exactly what your computer is doing, chances are someone has asked the exact same question some where. Be patient in finding a good fix, but they are out there. Heck I use it almost every time I work on a PC at work.

Another idea, if your computer is doing somthing strange, post it in the Computer Software or Computer Hardware forums. There are a lot of Computer savy folks on this site that I am sure could lend a hand.

[Buckblasta]

Thanks for the tips!!!