Spammers have revived an old tactic. There are currently reports of a new fake email (appearing to be from Microsoft) being circulated that urges recipients to click on a link(s) to patch their system.


The email appears to be from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and bears the Windows logo. It also contains several links that are to various locations on Microsoft's site. As we understand it, there are currently three variations of this email being circulated. One urges the user to click the link to install updates. The second variation urges the user to download Microsoft Update to scan their computers, and the third variation appears to let users read Microsoft security bulletins. These emails also contain links to terms of use, trademarks and the privacy statement.


Christopher Budd of Microsoft indicates that Microsoft does not send updates via email. Updates are only available through Windows Update and Microsoft's Malware Removal Site.


Since real estate professionals spend a great deal of their lives using email and the internet, it's important to be informed. Most vendors recommend that emails from sources you do not know should not be opened. That's a little impractical for the Real Estate Professional, so it might be wise to protect yourself from email threats in some way.


One program that might be worth checking out is Sandboxie. Randy Abrams, director of technical education at antivirus vendor ESET, indicates that Sandboxie is an application that runs programs in a sandbox, which is an isolated space on a user's hard drive. Sandboxie prevents programs from impacting other applications and data on the user's hard drive. Sandboxie is a very good line of defense according to Abrams. If can be obtained from their website www.sandboxie.com