i stupidly opened an email attachment to a fedex scam, (got sucked in bigtime) it showed unintelligible symbols to me, are apple computers open to virus? i am new to them

There are no known viruses running around for Mac OS X. However, there is malware that you can open but that will not harm your computer. Do not fall for things like MacKeeper, one of the worst.

Try shutting down your computer and restarting to clear the stuff out of memory, but before shutting down, go to Safari, or the browser you were using, and clear the cache and history so it "forgets" you were ever there.

lexfromsydney wrote:

are apple computers open to virus?

All computers are "open to virus"; some more than others. There are currently no known active Mac viruses (in the strict sense of the word). However, there is malware. (Some people don't know, or can't make, the distinction between virus and other kinds of malware, such as Trojan Horses or worms.) There is currently a Trojan Horse which uses a Java vulnerability and displays some virus-like characteristics.

I stupidly opened an email attachment to a fedex scam

At present, there is no known way of infecting a Mac with anything merely by opening an e-mail attachment. So that's not something you need to worry about. I second Ralph Landry1's suggestion to read Thomas A Reed's Mac malware page.

Those scams generally have you download Windows malware, which can't infect a Mac. And it sounds like the server you were directed to wasn't properly configured anyway, and displayed the raw data in the web browser instead of downloading it to a file in your Downloads folder. So no worries in this case. But you do need to be careful, as there is malware out there right now that can install itself without your interaction, if you have an outdated version of Java. (If you've kept up with security updates, that can't happen.)

Edit: On second read, I see it was an attachment not a link to a web site. Same thing applies, though... it was Windows malware.

Ralph provided you with a link to my Mac Malware Guide (thanks, Ralph!), but to a specific bookmark on one sub-page. The link should be:

http://www.reedcorner.net/guides/macvirus/

(Note that my pages contain links to other pages that promote my services, and this should not be taken as an endorsement of my services by Apple.)

Hi Thomas, goal was to get the OP to your page as it is a great starting point. With the thought that finding the exact information would then be possible 🙂

This is such a great asset I wish it would appear in the ASC tips material so it would be a faster reference to send user to.

Hi Lex ...

This started on Feb 23rd so I guess it's still out there ... I just happened to see the warning on Facebook and Twitter.

Not to worry. It only affects Windows based computers ...

http://www.scmagazine.com/fake-fedex-delivery-emails-contain-trojan/article/1985 10/

It's a trojan, not a virus.

This is such a great asset I wish it would appear in the ASC tips material so it would be a faster reference to send user to.

Thanks for the compliments! I did think about setting it up as a user tip back in the previous version of the forums, but I didn't like the approval process. I understand why it was necessary, but it meant that there would be an unavoidable delay whenever I needed to update it. Keeping it on my site means I can quickly add information about breaking threats and frequently update the content as things change.

I foolishly opened the zip file and it revealed a .exe file. I realised this was bogus and likely contained a virus.

I run MS Outlook 2011 for MAC as my mail file and the virus has hidden all my emails. The index of folders and subfolders still shows the number of emails in the folders but none of the information in the emails is visible.

i removed the .zip files from the downloaded file folder and also the saced attachment folder and slow deleted from the trash folder.

I searched using ClamXav virus scanner and no infected files showed up.

I've shut down and restarted.

When i open the Outlook and view the mail application i still get the same problem of hidden emails.

If anyone knows what i can do short of removing and reloading the MS Office 2011 application and importing a backed up file or trying a back up of the existing mail data file please let me know.

Thanks

No, the virus hasn't done anything. First, you didn't actually open it. Second, if you had, it was an .exe file, which means that it was Windows-only, and would not even run on your Mac. So you're safe.

As to what might have gone wrong in Outlook, I have no idea. Note that most people here avoid Outlook like the plague, so this isn't the best place to get help with Outlook problems. Try over on the Office for Mac forums.

Thanks, quite true, i ran the rebuild darabase utility and thisficed the problem. Thank you.

Yes i am in the process of converting to mail. But the projects i run through outlook are tough to let go of.

cheers

On my IMAC Lion my wife also recieved the FedEx email, opened the zip and run the exe file somehow. The invoice displayed a page of Chinese charaters. Email (Mail) and files deleted. After this event I had emails in my user account comfirming ticket purchases. I forward this to my work PC (windows XP) and in outlook it presented as a page of Chinese characters. I have my IPhone to the same email account and I again forwarded this to my Work PC and it presented as sent from tickettek. I do note, if I forward the same email as an attachment, it displays O.K on the PC.

Does anyone have any idea of how I can resolve this problem and What should I do? I am new to the world of MAC!

Thanks

For more help with malware on Macs, see http://www.reedcorner.net/guides/macvirus/is_it_malware.php#redirect

Thomas Reed has some great info in that article.