Beware of Valentine’s Day E-mail Scams and Viruses

With Valentine’s Day coming up, e-mail users at UNM should be aware of and cautious about receiving unsolicited greetings and e-cards. Computer virus writers and hackers often use holidays to send phony messages to unsuspecting people in hopes of infecting computers with viruses, spyware, malware and spybots.

So, while you may receive legitimate e-cards from Hallmark, American Greetings, or Blue Mountain, be on the lookout for Valentine’s Day-type messages with subject lines such as “I love you,” “With All My Love,” “You and Me” and other romantically-themed verbiage.

Be very suspicious of unsolicited e-mails with subject lines such as these and delete these messages immediately without reading them. Remember to never open e-mail attachments from persons you don’t know. For more information, search the Internet with keywords: MSNBC e-card trickery.

Media Contact: Vanessa Baca, (505) 277-0987; e-mail: vjbaca1@unm.edu