Walter's Words of Wisdom

The FBI has issued a warning yesterday that scammers have already started their attempts at identity theft and/or instilling computer viruses, arising from the death of Osama bin Laden.

With the White House issuing statements that photos of his body will not be released, many people are interested in seeing the final pictures, no matter how horrible they may be.

Emails are being sent, falsely stating that photos and/or videos are actually available. In fact, no photos or videos are available and these emails, if accessed, could be attempts to plant a virus or encourage you to download software, allegedly necessary to view the photos/videos, that could damage your computer, or worse, steal personal information.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) urges computer users to ignore these emails, even if they have been seemingly sent by familiar senders. It is recommended that computer users be sure their firewalls and anti-virus software is up to date and running, to avoid this potential.

Better yet, since newer viruses may be involved, not yet protected by your existing software, to be vigilant and sure you do not become a victim, advise the FBI by forwarding any such email to their web site at http://www.fbi.gov or IC3 at http://www.ic3.gov and then delete the mail from your computer.