Questionable Emails

[Shilo 371]

A quick question...

 

Every so often I get a "questionable" email that ends up in my junk folder. Generally I just delete them and move on...but sometimes the title gets my attention and I'm tempted to open one or more of them. The question I have is: can you get a virus from just opening the email its self. I have always thought that you actually have to click on a link or download something to cause a problem...

 

If I just open the email to see what is inside and do nothing else can this act alone cause a problem?

 

Thanks

[js007 795]

I always thought that just opening an email won't hurt anything, but that you have to be careful not to click on a link or open an attachment (a picture, for example).

[MM 6,562]

No virus I know of can activate by opening an email. You have to click on a link as js007 said to get somewhere that might transmit the virus.

[graymatter 153]

It seems very obvious but you should check your email settings to disable macros and disable the Automatic download feature for pictures web pages etc.

 

Even the most careful operator can pick up malware nowadays.

[jacko 8,807]

A quick question...

 

Every so often I get a "questionable" email that ends up in my junk folder. Generally I just delete them and move on...but sometimes the title gets my attention and I'm tempted to open one or more of them. The question I have is: can you get a virus from just opening the email its self. I have always thought that you actually have to click on a link or download something to cause a problem...

 

If I just open the email to see what is inside and do nothing else can this act alone cause a problem?

 

Thanks

Generally that type of email is put into your spam folder. If you open an email within the spam folder active parts are disabled. (Yahoo Mail).

So there is very low risk. Your virus protection should also be ready to jump in.

[teelack 9,574]

This subject reminds me of an issue that I have and I wonder if anyone has an answer.

 

Last time heading to Thailand I ordered a cab (Mr T by the way) and did not get a response. I ended up sending three emails and then through the help of a friend was told that he had repeatedly been responding.

 

I was puzzled but said friend suggested that I try the Spam folder. Thing is I have a "Junk Mail' folder (on this notebook) and the confirmation wasn't in there. I also have a newish laptop and looked in there and it has both Junk and Spam and there were the confirmation emails as I had been advised.

 

Besides feeling something of a dingbat I wonder where I went wrong. I always thought that Junk and Spam were the same thing but perhaps not but it has left me rather confused. Any thoughts or suggestions please?

[Shilo 371]

Thanks for the responses...

 

The email in question was titled District Court and seemed to be a noticed that I was to appear in court. But I have never had a problem here in Thailand, haven't been in the states for the past 7 years (again with no problems) and once I opened the email there was nothing that mentioned me by name or identified the court or "district" in question.

 

Needless to say, I didn't bother to click the link that claimed to offer the details of the court issue...

 

Thanks again

[jacko 8,807]

Well, there is also a chance of a malicious link being included in an email which appears to come from someone you know.

 

One like that caught me a few years ago. Then I became the apparent sender of 'a malicious link being included in an email which appears to come from someone you know'.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

I always thought that just opening an email won't hurt anything, but that you have to be careful not to click on a link or open an attachment (a picture, for example).

 

That's a good reminder. It is easy to click on a link, picture or anywhere on the page by habit or mistake and you're in virus or Trojan land. If you are going to look at a suspect email, take you fingers off the mouse until you're ready to delete it.

 

Evil

Edited April 21, 2015 by Evil Penevil

[Shilo 371]

Well, there is also a chance of a malicious link being included in an email which appears to come from someone you know.

 

One like that caught me a few years ago. Then I became the apparent sender of 'a malicious link being included in an email which appears to come from someone you know'.

 

This is one of the tricks that I heard about in the past...where someone clicked the wrong link that sent a virus but it also captured all of the contacts of the victims address book...then it sent the virus link to all of his friends from his account.

[js007 795]

This subject reminds me of an issue that I have and I wonder if anyone has an answer.

 

Last time heading to Thailand I ordered a cab (Mr T by the way) and did not get a response. I ended up sending three emails and then through the help of a friend was told that he had repeatedly been responding.

 

I was puzzled but said friend suggested that I try the Spam folder. Thing is I have a "Junk Mail' folder (on this notebook) and the confirmation wasn't in there. I also have a newish laptop and looked in there and it has both Junk and Spam and there were the confirmation emails as I had been advised.

 

Besides feeling something of a dingbat I wonder where I went wrong. I always thought that Junk and Spam were the same thing but perhaps not but it has left me rather confused. Any thoughts or suggestions please?

 

I suppose Spam is Spam but regular email can be classified as "junk" if you so desire. For example, let's say I routinely get email from a printer company. I'm sick of it, so I classify it as "junk" via my email program. Then, when email from that source arrives again, it'll automatically be routed to the junk folder.

[lounge_lizard 108]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that it should be possible to embed a script in the body of an e-mail.

 

The script might then do some damage unless disabled by the e-mail provider or anti-virus.

 

 

 

Paranoid? Who? Me?.

[brotherbuzz 3,203]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that it should be possible to embed a script in the body of an e-mail.

 

The script might then do some damage unless disabled by the e-mail provider or anti-virus.

 

 

 

Paranoid? Who? Me?.

For what it's worth.

 

"Not if you don't run any attachments or click any links. A decade or so ago it was possible for an email to have code imbeded in the body of the text that could run automatically when viewing the email itself. Modern computers and email programs will not allow such code to infect your computer without permission granted that you have all default security options enabled. Even with the advanced security, it is is still a best practice to not open any email that doesn't pass a preliminary "sniff test"."

 

http://www.sierraridgenetworks.com/blog/can-i-get-virus-just-looking-email

[Fatboyfat 361]

This subject reminds me of an issue that I have and I wonder if anyone has an answer.

 

Last time heading to Thailand I ordered a cab (Mr T by the way) and did not get a response. I ended up sending three emails and then through the help of a friend was told that he had repeatedly been responding.

 

I was puzzled but said friend suggested that I try the Spam folder. Thing is I have a "Junk Mail' folder (on this notebook) and the confirmation wasn't in there. I also have a newish laptop and looked in there and it has both Junk and Spam and there were the confirmation emails as I had been advised.

 

Besides feeling something of a dingbat I wonder where I went wrong. I always thought that Junk and Spam were the same thing but perhaps not but it has left me rather confused. Any thoughts or suggestions please?

Just a possibility, but one that does affect me. If you redirect your e-mail from your providers site to say "outlook" on your pc, then you will likely have 2 spam bin folders, one that you have set up in outlook and one that your provider has set up at source. Many e-mails are filtered out into this original folder before messages forward to your outlook account. I only noticed this when I started using a tablet, and was required to access my providers account for emails when away from home. This problem multiplies further if even more redirections occur, such as Gmail etc.

[Gary 4,110]

When I have to give an email address for one reason or another, I use my Hotmail account. It has a feature that my normal Gmail doesn't have. I rarely get spam from Gmail because it is used only for people that I know. I always have some with Hotmail. I click the box and an option called "Block" comes up. Most spam or dangerous messages have titles to entice you to open them. Resist the temptation and block them.

[SimplySam 517]

When I have to give an email address for one reason or another, I use my Hotmail account. It has a feature that my normal Gmail doesn't have. I rarely get spam from Gmail because it is used only for people that I know. I always have some with Hotmail. I click the box and an option called "Block" comes up. Most spam or dangerous messages have titles to entice you to open them. Resist the temptation and block them.

 

You mean those messages that HotGirl123 who saw my picture on Facebook and thought i was cute and maybe we can hookup, might be spam?