“Mail Server” Virus Warning-Truth! & Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A virus warning about an email that comes with a subject line of “Mail Server Report.” The message says that it is a bad virus. The email is described as having a zip file attachment and says that you have sent out an email with a virus in it and that if you click the attachment, you can fix the problem. Another version says that you will lose all the files on your PC and that the email is being sent by a hacker named “life owner.”
The Truth:
The “Mail Server Report” virus is real and began circulating in 2006.
Another version of the “Mail Server” virus warning began circulating in 2008, however, that is a hoax.
It all gets very confusing.
The original email that was sent in 2006 warned of a real virus, according virus protection sites such as Mcafee, Symantec, and F-Secure. The email pretends to be warning you that it has been determined that emails containing a worm are being sent from your computer and that you should install the attachment to update your computer and, presumably, stop the virus from being sent. The problem is that the attachment itself is a virus so if you are duped into opening it, it searches your computer for email addresses and sends itself to them. F-Secure names the real virus as Warezov. Other virus protection sites called it Stration.bb or W32/Stration-X.
A second version began circulating in 2008 this is a hoax. It claims that if you receive an email with the words “Mail Server Report” and open it, you’ll receive a message on your screen that says “It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful” and that you’ll “lose everything on your PC.” That actually borrows wording from yet another virus hoax called “Life is Beautiful.”
Be sure you have good virus protection software and that your virus definitions are up to date.
Updated 4/2/08