There are a number of emails circulating claiming to have fax messages attached. These contain word attachments which are infected with a macro virus. The messages are all from genuine senders who have been infected with the virus.
If you receive any messages with attachments which are unexpected, please delete them and do not attempt to open the attachment. This applies even if it is a genuine University sender and you know them.
If you have opened the attachment, switch off your computer immediately and contact the IT Service Desk for advice. Contact details are as follows: http://kb.bham.ac.uk/KB10074/
An example is shown below, although the message content does vary.
There is little at a technical level to show that this is not genuine. However the content has clues that should help to identify it as a scam.
Most of us don’t get notifications of faxes arriving from random colleagues attached as word documents. Secondly, the content of the message implies that you have received a fax personally and yet the message is sent to multiple people including lists in most cases.
For general advice on how to spot malicious messages, please see the following article previously published
Hi Chris,
Thanks very much.
What if we have used the Document Preview on Microsoft Outlook rather than opening the document fully? Would this be a problem?
Best,
Winnie