Fake FBI, CIA e-mails contain viruses

November 22, 2005 08:30 AM •

The FBI warned Internet users about a scam involving e-mails appearing to come from the FBI, with a computer virus attached.

“These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal websites,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement.

“The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions.”

The FBI statement said recipients of this or similar messages “should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner.”

The messages appear to be sent from an e-mail address such as mailAfbi.gov, postAfbi.gov, adminAfbi.gov or a similar address.

The Internet security firm Sophos said similar e-mails may appear to come from the Central Intelligence Agency, but it noted that both contain a strain of the Sober virus that has been spreading worldwide.

In a four-hour period Tuesday, the worm “has accounted for over 61 percent of all viruses reported to Sophos, making it currently the most prevalent virus spreading across the world.”

Federal law enforcement

Chief Clark Staten

Chief Clark Staten is the founder and Executive Director of the Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI) in Chicago. He is a US Army veteran and former police officer and in 1995, after 20 years of service, he retired as an Assistant Chief Paramedic with the Chicago Fire Department. Chief Clark is a frequent lecturer on the tactics and political implications of domestic and international terrorism, officer survival, hazardous materials, chem/bio consequence management, media relations, Amanagement and motivation methods, productivity, mass casualty/disaster management, security planning and numerous other topics.

Chief Staten is a certified DoD Domestic Preparedness Instructor-Trainer and has instructed the US Army, US Air Force, NATO and a number of police, fire and EMS agencies nationwide. In 1998, Chief staten was appointed to be the Emergency Management Advisor to the International Association of Counter-Terrorism and Security Professionals and in 1999 he received the IACSP National Leadership Award. In March, 2000 Staten was named to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Terrorism Task Force. He has presented at more than 160 conferences worldwide and had appeared on virtually every major TV network and in the nation’s top print publications to discuss terrorism and other emergency issues.

Check out his yahoo blog here.