Virus

[Ian Malone]

On 24/08/07, Jacques B. <jjrboucher at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > WELL YOU LIKE TO LIVE DANGEROUSLY. NEVER CLICK ON A VIRUS WEB PAGE. WEB
> > > > BROWSERS CAN COLLECT THE ADDRESSES OF PEOPLE WHO GO TO THE WEB SITE,
> > > > SO YOU ARE ALREADY COMPROMISED.

>  That being the case, why would he be compromised
> for having visited the site?  In this scenario at most the web server
> will have the IP of the person who visited, and the browser they used
> (and some other non-compromising information).
>

To clarify Aaron's comment: the supplied URL may encode
an id for the mail you received, marking the receiving address
'live' on a spammer's database.  (In fact, marking it live and
read by someone who follows such links, making it more
valuable to them.)  This used to be a favourite trick with
'if you have received this mailing in error click here' type
scams which were aimed at collecting addresses to sell on.
I have no idea whether the current crop of phishers bother
with such tricks or if collecting people's bank account details
is lucrative enough for them.

-- 
imalone