I am circulating a warning. I just received an e-mail from an unrecognized sender sent to the mailbox I use exclusively for travel information and communications. It had "old photos" as a title and contained the following text:

Greetings from france,

your friend.

There was an attachment to be opened, called old_photos.zip, which I did not open. Clearly someone is phishing, using information extracted from various travel boards. If you receive similar mailings, do <b>not</b> open the attachment.

Hmmmm..thanks..and one wonders just how they managed to get that address.

The address is the one that comes with my name, so it is accessible to anyone.

A really good reason not to put your e-mail address on any message boards. Or - to keep a separate address that you use for that only - with a completely different set of data from your real identity. (Like keeping different addresses for your business contacts, vs friends/family, vs financial.)

ttt

Just because the spam looks travel-oriented doesn't mean that it has anything to do with messages left on travel boards. Spammers and phishers try all sorts of themes with everyone, knowing that eventually something is likely to strike a chord and work.

Anthony,

You may be right, but I have noticed a distinct difference in the spams that I get in the two different mail addresses I maintain. At any rate, the warning is still valid. I forwarded the message to my other mail site which refused delivery because of an &quot;illegal attachment&quot;.