Warning on Scam "Virus Warning"

[Don Keyhoti]

I received what appears to be a fake virus warning from Top Mafia, but in fact it is "XandderrMan".

The message includes a link from a fake virus protection company virus(hyphen)total(dot)net.  This is trying to represent the the real virus protection company of the similar name but Without the hyphen.  They got my email from this forum because it was Not hidden [ it is now ].  The fake URL has it's WhoIs registered to somewhere in China.

Original message:
====Start
Hello, friend. There are viruses' activities from your computer in last few days. Strongly recommend you to check your computer. You can find a report about your computer's security and solve every problem with it here: [BAD URl: www(dot)virus(hyphen)total(dot)net/detected/[forum user name]

Thank you. Forum member.
====End

[Dookie]

Chris - thanks for the note.  The admin here will be alerted to possible email harvesting.

Did the email specifically identify the Top Mafia Forum?  Or just a generic "Forum"?  Or did it identify your user name here (one that is unique to the TMF)?

If not, I offer another possibility.  The email you used to register here is also registered to a Facebook account.  It is possible the email was harvested from there - perhaps from one of the pages joined or apps allowed.

Any additional info you have would be helpful.

Dookie

[Clark]

Dookie, these are not emails.  They are messages within the top mafia forum.

Important message from the forum administration!
« Sent to: Clark on: Today at 04:07:18 PM »
   Reply with quoteQuote ReplyReply Remove this messageRemove
Dear, Clark!

A virus alert was noticed on your computer.
We highly recommend you to check your computer and perform online virus check at our site immediately: http://security-tool2010.net/Clark
----------------------------------------------------
Forum Administration topmafia.info.

It is from this user:  http://topmafia.info/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=7892

[Clark]

I also got one from the same person as the OP (This person http://topmafia.info/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=7542)

Please, take into account..
« Sent to: Clark on: February 04, 2010, 01:41:18 PM »
   Reply with quoteQuote ReplyReply Remove this messageRemove
Hello, friend. There are viruses' activities from your computer in last few days. Strongly recommend you to check your computer. You can find a report about your computer's security and solve every problem with it here: http://www.virus-total.net/detected/Clark
Thank you. Forum member.

[Dookie]

Thanks for the head up.  A few other people have gotten the same PM and PM/email notification.  The forum admin are working on implementing ways to minimize this type of scam spam.

[THRASHER2]

PLEASE KILL THESE FOOLS! I got a New one Today!!!


Please ban these guys........ FOR SPAMMING AND VIDEO VIRUS!
Mstr. Bankol
XandderrMan
ForumTeam

[ray.patterson]

I just received this note today: It says this came from RooTModeratorx
The scam attempt continues....

Dear, ray.patterson!

A virus alert was noticed on your computer.
We highly recommend you to check your computer and perform online virus check at our site immediately: http://security-tool2010.org/ray.patterson
If you do not pass this test  we will have to delete your account and forward a complaint to your Internet provider.
----------------------------------------------------
Forum Administration topmafia.info.

[Mortimoto]

got it today too: here's the email copied and pasted,

You have just been sent a personal message by GafarozzMan on Top Mafia Forums.

IMPORTANT: Remember, this is just a notification. Please do not reply to this email.

The message they sent you was:

Hello, friend. There are viruses' activities from your computer in last few days. Strongly recommend you to scan your computer. You can find a report about your computer's security and solve every problem with it here: http://www.virus-total.in/detected/ my name was here
Thank you. Forum member

[Don Fanatic]

Thanks for info

[ness888]

Looks like they may have hacked the pm system as I too got this and reported it, thought it might have been a one-off

[Cooper]

I doubt that they hacked the PM system. They can harvest email by looking for those who have their email address shown in their profile. But as dookie said, the admins are working on a way to stifle this kind of behavior by scammers/spammers.

The best way we can all help is by offering up new and unique info about these threats whenever we notice them. You can also try hiding your email from other users by accessing your profile account options. Though if these people already have your email, it is possible that you may continue to get spam from certain groups.

Your best defense is common sense, which thankfully everyone seems to have shown so far. The admin staff here would never send messages to you about the state of your computer, so anything such as that that claims to be an official message from the forum should be deleted immediately.

[MySunshine427]

I got the message too but from SuperModer, I reported it earlier.  I clicked on supermoder to see any info & noticed the just joined yesterday. here is the e-mail:

SuperModer
Street Thug
*
Top Mafia Points: 0
[Standup Guy] [Bump off]
Offline Offline
Posts: 0
845599985 kabeltovyj53007@tuntak.boldlygoingnowhere.org
View Profile Personal Message (Offline)
   
Important message from the forum administration!
« Sent to: MySunshine427 on: February 13, 2010, 11:12:58 PM »
   Reply with quoteQuote ReplyReply Remove this messageRemove
Dear, MySunshine427!

A virus alert was noticed on your computer.
We highly recommend you to check your computer and perform online virus check at our site immediately: http://securitytool-2010.org/MySunshine427
If you do not pass this test  we will have to delete your account and forward a complaint to your ISP.
----------------------------------------------------
Forum Administration topmafia.info.

[DonProsser]

I had similar message:
   
Important message from the forum administration!
« Sent to: DonProsser on: February 07, 2010, 11:59:00 PM »
« You have forwarded or responded to this message. »
   Reply with quoteQuote ReplyReply Remove this messageRemove
Dear, DonProsser!

A virus alert was noticed on your computer.
We highly recommend you to check your computer and perform online virus check at our site immediately: http://security-tool2010.net/DonProsser
----------------------------------------------------
Forum Administration topmafia.info.

I replied asking some questions and that reply appeared to go to:Top Mafia Forums <yonks@topmafia.info>

[mia.tommila]

I get this to my e-mail today:

You have just been sent a personal message by Billieejackson on Top Mafia Forums.

IMPORTANT: Remember, this is just a notification. Please do not reply to this email.

The message they sent you was:

Dear, mia.tommila!

There are viruses' activities from your computer! Highly recommend you to scan your computer for malicious and potentially unwanted software. If you do not follow this, I will have to make a complaint to your Internet Service Provider with attached log file (your IP address, etc.). If you want to find a report about your computer's security and solve every problem with it, please click here: http://www.total-scan.org/detected/mia.tommila
This is an online service that you can use for free spyware removal. Use it to scan your computer to help protect, clean, and keep your computer running at its best. Use the free scan to check for and remove viruses, spyware, and other potentially malicious software and to find vulnerabilities or shortcomings in your Internet security.

Thank you. Yours truly, William Jackson.

Reply to this Personal Message here: http://topmafia.info/forum/index.php?action=pm;sa=send;f=inbox;pmsg=8293;quote;u=10253

---
This email was sent by Top Mafia Forum. You can disable emails here:
http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications&block=159561914899&h=4fb8c9b&t=1267670072&l=b&k=1



And this was inbox yesterday:

Dear, mia.tommila!

There are viruses' activities from your computer! Highly recommend you to scan your computer for malicious and potentially unwanted software. If you do not follow this, I will have to make a complaint to your Internet Service Provider with attached log file (your IP address, etc.). If you want to find a report about your computer's security and solve every problem with it, please click here: http://www.total-scan.org/detected/mia.tommila
This is an online service that you can use for free spyware removal. Use it to scan your computer to help protect, clean, and keep your computer running at its best. Use the free scan to check for and remove viruses, spyware, and other potentially malicious software and to find vulnerabilities or shortcomings in your Internet security.

Thank you. Yours truly, William Jackson.