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David Freed
08-23-2009, 9:24 AM
Although I use my computer a lot, I don't claim to know a lot about it and this may sound like a dumb question.

I have an email that landed in my Gmail spam folder that I think is a response to a form I filled out a few weeks ago, but I am afraid to open it. Is there some way to open an email without turning loose some kind of virus in my computer?

Doug Shepard
08-23-2009, 9:53 AM
If you have anti-virus software on your computer most of them automatically scan incoming emails for malicious attachments.

Darius Ferlas
08-23-2009, 10:04 AM
For really suspicious but potentially important emails I use a Linux box to see what's been sent to me. I won't count on A/V software. They do an OK job but they're far from bullet proof.

See if someone in the area has Linux based machine. If the email is NOT of confidential nature (bank accounts, health records etc) you can throw a PM at me and I'd see what's inside.

Brad Wood
08-23-2009, 10:40 AM
gmail has a pretty strong scanning system in place, so the message has been scanned once already (at least)

Pat Germain
08-23-2009, 11:05 AM
It also depends on your email program. Microsoft Outlook, which is what most people use, can execute code when all you do is select the message. However, the most recent versions of the software are better at foiling such malicious programs. The same is true for recent versions of Internet Exporer, which you're probably using to view your Gmail messages.

I assume you don't have a computer running Linux handy. And I assume you're not ready to build one just to view one message. You're probably OK vewing the message. It was most likely routed to your Spam folder based on the words in the message and not because it contains malicious code.

David Freed
08-23-2009, 12:41 PM
Thanks for the replies.

I was filling out a Walmart online survey for my wife a couple weeks ago which gives you a chance to win $1000. I have done this a few times before with no problem. This time the questions took a different direction than normal and I got suspicious and closed the window. Since that time I have been getting 10 times as much spam as before which confirms my suspicion that I somehow ended up on a maliscious website. As soon as I closed the window, I went to the Walmart site again and filled out the survey with no problem. The suspicious email I have concerns the $1000 prize. I really think that this and several others very similar to it that I have already trashed are phony, but I would hate to miss out on $1000 if it is a real.

P.S. While I was typing this response I got another email from them which makes 2 just today. I am 99% sure this is from some kind of scammer so unless someone can tell me what an email from Walmart should look like, I am going to just get rid of them. I am going to reset the filter on my gmail account to stop all the spam before I get it.

Andy Bardowell
08-23-2009, 1:19 PM
Usually it's not the email that you have to worry about viruses are usually embedded in an attachment or a link that takes you to a website that downloads the virus. If it is a legitimate response from Wallmart I doubt that they will be asking you to open an attachment. The response may have a link but will probably also have phone numbers to call to claim your prize rather than clicking any links.

David Freed
08-23-2009, 7:59 PM
While checking my spam folder a little while ago I discovered that if I hold the cursor over the email title for a few seconds without clicking, it will tell the email address of the sender. It is not Walmart. I am going to let the folder fill up for a while and mark them all to be filtered out in the future.

Thanks again for all the replies.