Tech: Mudcat E mail

Subject: Mudcat E mail
From: selby
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 03:02 PM

Have any of you recieved a personal e mail about mudcat help which has an attachment I havn't read it in case it is a virus? Keith

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat E mail
From: Gareth
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 03:06 PM

Careful there is a virus about which has used Mudcat Help as a header.

Gareth

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat E mail
From: Noreen
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 03:25 PM

Yes Keith, unfortunately we all got it- see here

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat E mail
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 03:31 PM

Not a virus, but one of these send-it-to-everyone-you-know scams. There was no attachment, which could have contained a virus.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcat E mail
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 03:37 PM

Thanks, Dave. Yeah, please be careful when you post information about problems. If it isn't a virus, please don't call it a virus. Last night, somebody sent e-mails to many Mudcatters, asking for help for somebody named Penny Brown. There were also e-mails sent as attachments to other e-mails - but no viruses that I know of.

The "help Penny Brown" thing is a hoax that has been going on for a couple of years. It's annoying, but not a virus.

Selby, if it's something else you received, please let me know by personal message.

Thanks.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat E mail
From: michaelr
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 07:02 PM

Betcha a GUEST is behind this...*BG*

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat E mail
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 07:14 PM

Joe - please also tell everyone that an apology was posted (twice) stating that I was unaware that it was a hoax.

Subject: RE: Tech: Mudcat E mail
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 11:21 PM

I caught a virus, and I'm sure it was MudCat spawned!!!!

---

Yes, two apology threads were started, They were deleted, possibly by mistake. The threads did not give enough information for us to tell if the apology was credible, and if sending the Penny Brown information was an honest mistake. That's part of the problem with anonymous guests. If they are not known Mudcatters, courtesy dictates that they should not be sending bulk e-mails to Mudcatters (actually, I wish that nobody would send bulk e-mail).

Actually, few of the above messages are helpful. If you have a problem, please give enough information so we can tell if the problem is something we've encountered before, or if it is something new. I'm supposing the e-mail attachment was the Penny Brown thing that was e-mailed to several Mudcatters (some as e-mail attachments, and some as text within an -e-mail message) - but some of the messages above make it appear that the attachment was a virus - which I doubt.
The "Mudcat-spawned virus" this message speaks of - I'm supposing this was a virus that was unintentionally transmitted by e-mail from one Mudcatter to others in his/her e-mail address book. However, I can't determine if that's the case, or if it something that came from the Mudcat site itself, which is very unlikely.
If all of these threads deal with the same Penny Brown hoax problem, it would have been better to have just one thread. From the messages posted in this thread, I can't tell if they are about the Penny Brown problem or not.
You all fail the specificity test. At a minimum, we need to know the title of the e-mail message, a summary of the information in the message, and the name/title of the attachment. If you think you received a virus/worm, please check it out first with virus software. Don't relay second-hand information about viruses and worms until you have verified the information with Norton or McAfee or another reputable site.
-Joe Offer-