Just spoke with a buddy...

[misanthrope]

...who spent the last couple of weeks in England taking care of business and staying with old friends. While over there, he used their computer a few times to check e-mail and the like. He also checked up on news at some left-leaning sites like Truthout.org.

After he came home Saturday, his friends called here and said they had been contacted by the FBI who told them that someone at their address had "visited 30 illegal websites" recently and they were being investigated.

[boston bean]

1. the fbi called over to england?? nt

[roguevalley]

2. good lord almighty.

[Cush]

3. most likely a virus/trojan horse thing

I got something similar a few months back, the one I got was a virus/trojan horse type thing

[Freedom_from_Chains]

14. I got the same thing but my virus scanner caught it

Just more internet junk.

[MN ChimpH8R]

16. It's a virus

Nothing to worry about unless you opened the attachment. This e-mail was spammed all over the world, including to my e-mail in a courthouse. Probably started by a couple of kids in the Philippines or Sweden or some such.

[renate]

4. and so it begins....

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

This is seriously scary.

On edit: I hadn't heard of that virus and I assumed that "contacted by the FBI" meant something other than via e-mail. (I hope that's the case. ??? )

[SillyGoose]

5. It sounds like they got that hoax email that contains a virus.

It was going around here a few weeks back.

[wicket]

6. Did the FBI call them or was it an email?

There is a hoax email going around claiming to be from the FBI saying that the computer user had visited "illegal" sites- my mother got this same email the other day.

[Walt Starr]

7. Um, that email is a virus

It's been out for a while.

[meganmonkey]

8. Did they get an email that looked like this?

Dear Sir/Madam,

we have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important:
Please answer our questions!
The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison

*** Federal Bureau of Investigation -FBI-
*** 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 3220
*** Washington, DC 20535

-------------------------------------------------

If so, they SHOULDN'T OPEN THE ATTACHMENT. It's a virus.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/soberx.asp

[Caoimhe]

9. um

that's an email worm. I get those emails too. It's been happening for a few weeks. They usually are from postman@___ or postmaster@______ or info@____ and always say you've visited illegal websites, or 30 websites or they just say paris hilton nicole richie....


I don't know what it is but it's not anything directed at your friend.

[Sydnie]

10. The FBI has standing in England?

I thought all things outside of our country were CIA not FBI.

Sounds a bit fishy to me.

[Loonman]

11. Sounds hoax like

Any more info?

[babylonsister]

12. Truthout=illegal? That is such bullshit! Someone

perhaps needs to alert Truthout.

[sabra]

13. it was via email - which was a "virus" that was being sent a few weeks ago

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=4156539&nav=9qrx

New email virus poses as a warning from the federal government

Watch out! A new email virus could wipe out your computer. The email says its from the federal government and it can be quite alarming. But whatever you do, do not open its attachments.

The email comes in from a sender claiming to be the FBI or CIA, like [e-mail] and [e-mail]. The subject line says: Your password, you visit illegal websites, or your IP was logged.

When you open up the email, its addressed to sir or madam and reads: "we have logged your IP address on more than 30 illegal websites."

Then, "important, please answer our questions."

At the bottom, it says "Yours faithfully, Steven Allison.”

[LSK]

wait a second, the FBI would not be calling England, the CIA would

FBI does domestic investigating. CIA does overseas. England would fall under the CIAs jurisdiction.

[librechik]

15. THAT'S A WEIRD VIRUS GOING AROUND

your friends better scan their computers

a few of us got that one here at work. It was the CIA that was concerned about the "30 illegal websites."

[politicaholic]

17. I guess your buddy didn't mention his pedifelia...

Sorry...I don't believe it. If that were the case I would have been deported by now.

[Loonman]

18. FBI can't investigate a privy in the UK

No jurisdiction, no authority.

[ihaveaquestion]

19. Gee, does this mean that I shouldn't ....

DU at work?
How scared should I be of losing my job? :scared:

[misanthrope]

21. That's a trick question...

..in my case. Long story...

[ihaveaquestion]

25. Maybe you'd like to share your story?

DU is a mixed bag for sure, but usually sympathetic to such things.

[rman]

20. FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT E-MAIL SCHEME

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT E-MAIL SCHEME
E-mails purporting to come from FBI are phony
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/emailscheme112205.htm

Washington, D.C. - The FBI is warning the public to avoid falling victim to an on-going mass e-mail scheme wherein computer users received unsolicited e-mails purportedly sent by the FBI. These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal web sites. The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions.

The e-mail appears to be sent from the e-mail addresses of [e-mail], [e-mail] and [e-mail]. There may be other similarly styled addresses. The recipient is enticed to open the zip attachment which contains a variant of the w32/sober virus. If the program within the zip attachment is executed then the virus is launched and may affect the user's computer.

The text of the email is as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

<more>

[misanthrope]

22. Thanks to all...

...I called him back and told him to ring his pals up and let them know about the virus.

I, too, thought it was funny that the FBI would be handling int'l stuff. Makes sense now.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

24. Glad you figured it out

sorry I answered before reading the thread fully.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

23. Wait a minute

The FBI can't contact people in England and tell them they are under investigation.

Also, there is no such thing as an illegal website that I am aware of, unless it is kiddie porn.