A Note About Malicious Email Messages

It is a common practice of virus writers or spammers to use return addresses labeled as "System Administrator", "Microsoft", "Account Services" or some other such name to make it look like the message is legitimate so you will read it, and perhaps open an attachment or follow a link. Some even put the name of your Internet provider into the message. Never open any attachment that comes in your email unless you not only know who it is from, but also know what it does and were expecting it. There have been supposed "security patches for Windows" that come in emails that look like they were sent from Microsoft (complete with graphics and references to Microsoft's web site) that were in fact viruses, and we have seen other malicious software attached to messages with with return addresses that appeared to be from familiar companies. Other messages will tell you that your computer is vulnerable to attack, that you have "spyware" installed, or any of many other warnings.

Andiamo Telecom does not send out any messages of this kind. We occasionally send out a system status message, but they will not contain attachments. All Andiamo messages will come from an email address "@andiamotelecom.com", usually "support@andiamotelecom.com". If you receive a message from any address "@dancris.com" or "@andiamo-tel.com" it should be deleted. Dancris was purchased in February of 2004 and we do not use that address anymore. Since so many viruses will put your own ISP domain in the "from" field (ie. "sysadmin@andiamo-tel.com") we use "@andiamotelecom.com" instead. If you get a message from "andiamo-tel.com" you'll know it wasn't from us. If in doubt contact us at 1-800-683-5731 or support@andiamotelecom.com.

Also, be very careful following links in an email. A link can look legitimate in an email, but the actual web site that it takes you can be totally unrelated. For example, this link http://www.yahoo.com will not take you where you would expect. Notice how the web address is "http://208.38.192.18" instead of "http://www.yahoo.com". This is called "phishing". By making you think that a company you do business with needs information and pointing you to a web page that has been made to look like that company's web site, "phishers" try to get you to reveal personal information. For example, we recently received an email from "US Bank" with the subject "Important Information About Your Account". The body warned that there has been a security concern and provided a link to confirm the recipient's identity for "security purposes". The link looked legitimate, but when examining the message source code (that's the computer language that makes the message appear in your Outlook Express or other mail program) we could see that the link actually pointed to a totally different web site where an unsuspecting recipient would have been asked to enter personal information that would be used to perpetrate fraud, not prevent it.

Other types of messages to ignore are messages that tell you to delete files on your computer yourself. These may be messages written or forwarded by well-meaning friends. Usually, they will say that the sender's computer was infected with a virus that cannot be detected by anti-virus tools such as Norton or McAfee. They will then direct you to search your system for a specific file name and have you delete and remove it from the recycle bin. (The most common is "jdbgmgr.exe" which has a teddy-bear icon.) These files are not viruses, and it is NEVER a good idea to remove files from your computer without knowing exactly what they are for since deleting critical files can cause your computer to stop working. When in doubt check Symantec's web site or contact us. (A link to Microsoft's web site regarding this is here. A link to Symantec's list of virus hoaxes is here.)

The best rules to follow are:

  1. Do not ever give personal, banking, or any other private information to anyone who asks for it via email.
  2. Never run anything that comes in email that you weren't expecting and know exactly what it does no matter where they come from. Viruses are often sent with return addresses of someone you know, so the old policy of "don't open it unless it's from someone you know" no longer applies.
  3. Andiamo will NEVER send attachments in email. There is no reason for us to do it. If we have a system announcement it will be in the body text.
  4. Microsoft, Symantec (Norton Antivirus), McAfee, or any other legitimate company does not send any products or offer patches via unsolicited email. No matter how realistic it looks, it isn't.
  5. Always (Always!) keep your antivirus software up to date. (If you don't have any installed or if yours is out of date, go out and buy one. $50 for antivirus software is a much better deal than what a computer shop will charge to take the inevitable virus out of your computer, not to mention the hassle and the fact that after all that happens you will be buying an antivirus program anyway.)
  6. Keep your Windows updated with the latest security patches by either clicking "Windows Update" on the start menu, or going to www.windowsupdate.com.
  7. When in doubt, call and ask us at (800)541-6316 or email support@andiamotelecom.com. It can save you many problems.