email virus WhatsApp - sending itself to all in my address book

One N will be sufficient.

Post back when you have figured it out.

Sarcasm I take it.

Not at all, clearly once you have "figured it out" that information will be of value to others, so post it here.

And one N in not is just enough.

the ipad i was posting on waits and waits while these panels open. I guess the first N is what I hit while waiting for the ipad to catch up. You know, the way older Apple products get slower and slower as Apple releases updates.

Switched to a PC so things are fine now.

James Mitchell1 wrote:

Everyone! Please quit telling people this does not exist.

Nobody is saying that this problem doesn't exist... we're saying it's not due to some kind of magical malware that can run itself just by opening an e-mail. It's definitely not that.

I have examined this issue in detail, both using one of these messages that was sent to my own e-mail account and several sent to me by other people. It is a phishing message, pure and simple. That's it. There is no malware involved. Take that from someone who actually studies Mac malware.

There are a number of potential explanations for why some people think they haven't entered a password in a phishing site:

1) It was convincing enough that they didn't even realize they had done it later. Perhaps your wife knows more than you think she does. Never underestimate women!

2) The hacking of the e-mail account was unrelated to the e-mail message, and was accomplished via other means.

3) The hack occurred after clicking the link alerted the scammers that the owner of that address was someone who could be tricked easily, which would make that account one that would be higher priority to try to attack remotely. (Especially since such a person would be more likely to have a weak password, making the account easier to crack.)

I see the guys from Apple are as helpful as ever.

You misunderstand this site. You're not talking to anyone from Apple here.

However, your choice of words here, as well as in some of your other posts, suggests that you may have an anti-Apple agenda. If you believe that this kind of problem only affects Apple devices, and that Windows machines somehow make one immune to phishing attempts and protect one's e-mail account from remote hacking, good luck out there. You're going to need it.

i know there are no apple reps here. Too bad. It would let us know if apple is even on top of a few of the issues. However

A friend of ours just picked up this same malware or whatever it is on her blackberry tablet or maybe phone It also fired out the messages to everyone on her gmail account. would be nice to know how this thing worked.

I just clicked it on my PC to see where it went and nothing happened except it took me to a webpage selling some health giving elixir. Running two malware programs as well as my virus checker shows up nothing.

Congratulations on a posting of wisdom and calmness. If only everyone on this forum were as calm and helpful we would all benefit.

James Mitchell1 wrote:

I just clicked it on my PC to see where it went and nothing happened except it took me to a webpage selling some health giving elixir.

That's what often happens with phishing pages after a short period of time. The links stop working, and instead go to something like that, to disguise the fact that the site is a phishing site. You've got to have the right URL, and be within the right timeframe, to see the intended page.

I've seen the intended page, and it was pretty convincing. There's evidence that the scammers are smart enough to target specific e-mail accounts with convincing pages matched to their e-mail provider (ie, a convincing fake GMail page for addresses @gmail.com, a convincing Yahoo page for addresses @yahoo.com, etc).

When I tested this scam, it took me to a link that said I needed Flash Player. After pretending to be naïve and clicking the link, it downloaded a malicious Flash Player in the form of a .exe file, which obviously cannot affect or even be run on a Mac.

there is more happening here than that because my wife does not own anything other than a mac and an ipad and would have no idea how to pick up mail with a PC. She got the message from her grandson on her ipad and did click it. As I posted, another friend had the same deal with her blackberry and she as well sent out the same spam messages. I called her to ask her what she got the email on. Her blackberry.

In this case like it or not, something else is happening. And it is happening with Macs or possibly Ipads as well.

ya ya.. tell me something new.

However in this case something different is happening. That should be obvious from all the Apple users on here who have the same problem. The one that just "can't happen" on a mac.

It has nothing to do with what device or operating system you're using, since it was sent by email. Are you saying that your Mac or iPad actually got infected by a file downloaded as a result of clicking on the email?

James Mitchell1 wrote:

However in this case something different is happening. That should be obvious from all the Apple users on here who have the same problem. The one that just "can't happen" on a mac.

And how do you explain it also affecting a Blackberry user, of all people? (Who actually targets Blackberry users with malware? Nobody. I mean, there are, what, twelve Blackberry users left in the world, right? Not the best return on investment.)

The very fact that people are being affected on all manner of devices is compelling evidence that this is NOT a malware issue. If you insist that it must be malware... well, as they say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I got caught out by this. Having used Macs since 1986 I like to think I'm pretty savvy but maybe I'm also a bit complacent to think that things don't infect a Mac.

I'm not familiar with What's App and should have known better. I think I clicked this (which arrived from a client of mine on my iPad). This would probably have been Friday night. It took me to the fake BBC News webpage. I saw it was fake and thought no more of it. Nothing happened for over two days until this morning (Monday) at 6:30am when the same email got sent out from me.

I have multiple email addresses with a set up that means Gmail (and various others) all forward to be collected on my iCloud account.

My wife got several copies of the email and she also stupidly opened it on her iPhone and saw the fake webpage.

A client of mine also got this email but he is not listed as a contact in my contacts (shared via iCloud on all my apple devices —iPhone, iPad and iMac) he is however listed as a contact on the Gmail account which I checked on the web using Safari.

I am pretty certain I have not compromised any email passwords by entering them into dummy logon pages so in common with James Mitchell1 I I'm at a loss to explain what has happened to allow this if as you suggest it isn't malware.
I don't think I deleted the rogue email although I have done so now.

But this has been a pain resetting passwords, sending apology emails to those who may have received the same email I got (now sent by me) and also because I'm not convinced the problem is actually sorted.

There is I should add no evidence of any emails having been sent out because they do not list in the sent folder but I have quite a few that bounced so there must have been lots sent out.

I never said it was not malware. I really have no idea what it is or how it gathered the email addresses. However, my wife would NEVER install or click on anything without asking me. She is as computer unsavy as they come. She uses her programs on it but goes no further. I know for a fact she does not know her gmail passwords because I logged in to Gmail for her and changed them all after this occurred. I asked what her password was and she said, I have no idea.. You set it up.

So, I don't know what is happening with this one or how it gets the Gmail but If someone ever figures this out I would be first in line to congratulate them.