bank account statements

i keep getting loads of these emails all with the similar message but they are being sent with zip files which my email account keeps removing these saying it contained a virus.

But i am wondering if it is a scam? :/ This email was sent from the usa georgia but this message as follows

X-Message-Delivery: Vj0zLjQuMDt1cz0wO2w9MDthPTA=
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X-SID-PRA: Suzette Sellers <cmvvetng>
X-Message-Info: Mod edit: snipped to fix thread blowout. -Jillian
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Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:57:14 -0700
X-Yahoo-Forwarded: from (my email address's have been removed from this)
X-YahooFilteredBulk: 209.255.55.49
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Received: from [209.255.55.49] by mailin.webmailer.de; Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:57:08 -0500
From: "Suzette Sellers" <cmvvetng>
To: <email>
Subject: Credit card account statement
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:57:08 -0500
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000E_01C91996.70801200"
X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.6353
Thread-Index: Aca6QPLSFYQFJFZ6WTJALHGPB69LUQ==
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Message-ID: <01c91996>
Return-Path: [email protected]
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 18 Sep 2008 18:57:15.0123 (UTC) FILETIME=[5D94FC30:01C919C0]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_000E_01C91996.70801200
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear Valued Customer:
ID: badboyjoey2003

As requested, we are sending you this account statement with information on the transactions carried out with your credit card between 1/1/2008 and 8/1/2008.

Please find the account statement with the detailed list of the transactions attached to this message. You can view the document or print it out by simply saving the attached file to disk and opening it for viewing.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

At your service,
Suzette Sellers
Manager of Visa / MasterCard
Credit Card Services

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


If you believe this message was sent to you by mistake, please forward the identification number stated on the enclosed document to our customer service department

I'm not much of an expert on exactly what it is, but I can assure you it's not from your bank. No bank sends important notifications by unsolicited e-mail, and they're never addressed to "Dear Valued Customer". It should also be noted that Visa and MasterCard are completely different companies and rarely do much to look after each others' clients.

By the look of things you're receiving messages containing malicious code (virus), but not a scam attempt. If your anti-virus software is picking it up and deleting it, my guess would have to be that it's not a scam attempt.

Virus-writers are scum, but different scum than scammers. A scammer is unlikely to send out viruses, since they need your computer alive and well in order to convince you to give them your money.

It's not my anti-virus software thats removing the zipped file its the mail address i am using not that i am complaining it's doing it as i don't open any zipped files or links i did not ask for.

If its asking for personal details then i am wondering why they actually want them and what for. Its that thought that's making me think it may be some sort of scam

But anyways thanks for replying.

My apologies for misunderstanding your question.

Unauthorized collection of your personal info is most often used for electronic theft, yes. There are quite a few ways your personal information can be used by a fraud artist, and none of them are good! Some scammers will only ask for that information in order to make themselves look official, some will try to commit identity theft with it, etc. There are many ways your personal / financial info can be used against you.

My apologies for misunderstanding your question.

Unauthorized collection of your personal info is most often used for electronic theft, yes. There are quite a few ways your personal information can be used by a fraud artist, and none of them are good! Some scammers will only ask for that information in order to make themselves look official, some will try to commit identity theft with it, etc. There are many ways your personal / financial info can be used against you.

Hey tis ok mate yeah your right there are far too many ways of obtaining it and to be used for god knows what. sorry am just far too suspicious for my own good lool well the real hussle has opened my eyes thats for sure

Even without the zip file attached, I would be suspicious on several counts.

1 - the "from" address is not a bank site address.

2 - The email says "as you requested" and claims to have attached 8 months' worth of statements for your credit card. Did you ask your credit card provider to send you 8 months of statements? Probably not.

3 - As mentioned above, the use of "Valued Customer" indicates that the same email is being sent to numerous people - not the individualized greeting one would expect in answer to a specific request.

Maybe not a scam in the sense of trying to get you to send money, but definitely dodgy.

Even without the zip file attached, I would be suspicious on several counts.

1 - the "from" address is not a bank site address.

2 - The email says "as you requested" and claims to have attached 8 months' worth of statements for your credit card. Did you ask your credit card provider to send you 8 months of statements? Probably not.

3 - As mentioned above, the use of "Valued Customer" indicates that the same email is being sent to numerous people - not the individualized greeting one would expect in answer to a specific request.

Maybe not a scam in the sense of trying to get you to send money, but definitely dodgy.

Deffinately dodgy i'd say as to the fact i don't own a credit card and my statements are sent to me via post lol and if i do require additional statements i go into the bank and get a print out. I don't do internet banking or online banking and i am only with one bank.

So its deffo a shady email but what are they trying to gain from me i wonder :/

They are not necessarily trying to gain anything from you personally. They have probably sent out oodles (scientific measurement) of identical emails. When someone who has a credit card and does their banking online doesn't read the email carefully and just opens the attachment, any one (or more) of several things could happen.

There could be a keylogger in that file. All kinds of juicy information is available through logging keystrokes.

There could be phishing language in the attachment.

If a person opened the attachment and found it wasn't their information, they might respond telling the scammer such, and the scammer could then say, "Well, then, what is your info?" People alarmingly often respond to such questions because the first email strangely builds a kind of trust.

I'm not ashamed that I think like a scammer sometimes. It keeps me aware of scammishness in my own received emails, and it makes me a better baiter.

^^^^ The Farce is strong with this one!

This one has recently been doing the rounds.
The attachment contains a trojan - a!zip.
http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_134066.htm