Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Virus R Us

I just got the best virus email. Not the best for content, but the best for subtlety.
Dear user XXXXXX@ephemeralpulp.XXX,

Your e-mail account has been used to send a huge amount of unsolicited email messages during the last week. Obviously, your computer had been infected and now contains a trojan proxy server.

Please follow the instruction in the attached file in order to keep your computer safe.

Have a nice day, ephemeralpulp.XXX technical support team.

Where the prankster failed -- besides asking me to view an attached zip file for instructions -- was signing the e-mail, ephemeralpulp technical support team. Because in this case, I am the support team. Truly, it lost some credibility there.

I especially like the "Obviously, your computer had been infected" line. That's class right there. Only a dumbass would draw another conclusion. Are you a dumbass? And throwing in words like "trojan proxy server," well, it's probably got a little old lady somewhere on the edge of her seat.

We're in for a world of hurt when the virus community starts taking these things seriously. But for now they're just playing with us, flexing their muscles for the big kill. I'm honored to have been target practice.

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