HI All

A WORD OF WARNING

There is a nasty email scam going around that is dressed up to look like a Critical or Important update for Windows.
This is packed with Ransom ware and viruses.
Do not open delete strait away.
Or you will finish up having to pay to have your files unlocked, or reformat your hard drives and loose all your files.

Microsoft say they will never send updates via email, only via the windows update service in your OS.
Take Care
Mike

Some additional info on this. Just updated today:

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/11/windows-10-update-is-actually-just-filled-with-ransomware/

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/1207000/Windows-10-Update-Ransomware-Do-Not-Download

https://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/beware-fake-windows-10-update-email-scam-doing-the-rounds/story-cDQecQ3HTxjUTtegDKqvdL.html


Jeff

Thanks for the heads up.

I don't know of any company that updates via and e-mail attachment.

Notes

Thanx for the update. I would never click on anything like this but I have some friends who would. So I just sent all of this data to everyone on my email list that uses PCs. Hopefully they will not click on this and then come to me for help.

Thanks for the advance notice. I would be wary, but there are many who might just go ahead. I'll let a few people know too.

Anybody who opens an email link without vetting it nowadays is asking for it. Vetting can be as simple as recognizing that the link is legit or researching it. Often only there is only a character or so difference. There are also sites you can use to safely open links. I do not immediately trust any links even if sent by friends.

+1

If someone I know sends me something with a link or attachment, I contact them first to make sure it's legit. This goes for everybody, including my wife.

Sure it's a minor PITA and you don't get instant gratification, but it's better than an instant malware problem.

Insights and incites by Notes

I think its a bit hard to suggest they are asking for it. My ma got scammed recently and shes a smart lass. One of the computer scam calls, you probably know the ones where they ring and say theres errors on your computer that they need to fix? Well she actually did have a ton of malware on her computer so when they rang her she thought it made sense as she actually did have viruses. Even the best of us can be scammed, not just gullible people. I reported the number on scam-numbers.co.uk had a load of replies from people that had also been scammed. There were posts on there of people with mental disorders and the elderly etc. I dont think these people were 'asking for it' as you say. Show compassion.

I think the intent of that comment was just to emphasize that it's often not immediately apparent if an email is a scam/phishing/etc., which is definitely true. Some things that are common sense to people who grew up with email, are not common sense to people who were introduced to it halfway through their lives. We should educate on simple strategies to determine if an email is a scam. One strategy is to hover over a link in the email, and see if the webpage that it points to "makes sense", for example if you get a notice from Amazon that your account needs to be updated, don't click on the link - instead, however your mouse over the link and look at the bottom of your email program to see what page it is pointing to.