Virus Alert: "Hallmark" E-cards

This is an email I received this morning (links disabled).

* * * * *
Subject: Ana sent you an E-card
From: "HALLMARK ECARD"
Date: Mon, March 24, 2008 5:19 am
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version | Download this as a file | View as plain text

Hello!

You have received a Hallmark E-Card.

To see it, click here,

There's something special about that E-Card feeling. We invite you to make a friend's day and send one.

Hope to see you soon,
Your friends at Hallmark
* * * * *

While the "send one" link does go to Hallmark (in this case), the "see it" link actually goes to a .exe file on an unrelated website. This is an adaptation of a well-known scheme where false links are implanted in a real-looking email. When the link is clicked, whatever program is on the other end is installed.

Prevention:

It is impossible to verify that an email is legitimate by looking at the sender's email address alone. As you can see in the sample above, this message's sender masked his or her own email, and replaced it with a Hallmark.com ID.

There are numerous other tricks scammers can use to convince you that a fake email is real. The only way to be sure is to pay attention to what you're clicking. If you hover your cursor over a link, the destination web address will display on your screen, in many cases in the bottom of your browser window. If that website does not exactly match the sender's, the email is almost definitely malicious.

Some false links will take you to a 'clone' website, where you're asked to enter your login information. The scammer can then use this info to access your account on the actual website. Pay-pal is extremely vulnerable to this kind of scam.

Other false links will lead you to .exe files, like this one. These are programs that you are inadvertently installing on your computer, and they could be viruses, spyware programs, or even programs designed to raid your computer for your personal information and email it back to the sender.

These false emails are very dangerous. Please, take the extra moment to be sure of the site you're about to visit before clicking. It can save you a lot of trouble later.