[MacNNUK]

I did a ClamXav check and found this ...

[besson3c]

Did you have a question about this?

[MacNNUK]

First one in 25 years.

[Spheric Harlot]

It's just a phishing e-mail. Those are pretty common, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody with an e-mail address who's never got one.

I found some mouldy cheese in my fridge the other day.

[MacNNUK]

In 25 years it's the first one I've found, in fact it's the first malware ever

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by MacNNUK 

In 25 years it's the first one I've found, in fact it's the first malware ever

1) Fishing emails hardly qualify for malware

2) FiRST phishing email in 25 years ?
Seriously, that's a nice rock you got there. You should never leave.

-t

[MacNNUK]

I ain't leaving

[turtle777]

Phishing is completely independent of the platform/OS, so I'm not sure why you would have been spared in the past, but it certainly had nothing to do with using Macs.

Most likely, you just didn't notice; some spam software probably took care of it.

-t

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by MacNNUK 

I used malware as a generic term for phishing, bots, spyware, viruses, Trojan horses, rootkits, adware, worms, etc.

Then, you're using the term incorrectly. Malware is software (that's where the 'ware' part comes from) designed to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Phishing emails use social manipulation to trick you into giving up your passwords. They are not software running on your computer, and therefore don't qualify as malware.

Originally Posted by MacNNUK 

Like I say, not just phishing, it's the first instance, to the best of my knowledge and detection software, that I am aware of, of any of the above, on this or any of my other iMacs.

Macs are not immune to phishing emails. They are, after all, just emails. If you have an email address, you can receive phishing emails.

[Spheric Harlot]

Calling phishing emails "malware" is like saying that somebody who called you up posing as an employee of your bank and tricked you into verifying your address and bank account data, has hacked your bank account.

[MacNNUK]

It must have been software once

[Wiskedjak]

Software updates aren't going to protect you from phishing emails. It might be able to catch some of the more obvious ones in your inbox, but the really dangerous ones will come from your friends who've had their email, twitter, facebook, etc accounts hijacked. No matter how up to date your software is, it won't catch phishing attacks originating from your friends.

[MacNNUK]

Just really old unused user name

[besson3c]

A trojan is malware.

I kind of have mixed feelings about anti-virus software reporting on phishing emails. It seems like chasing one's tail keeping up with all of the phishing out there, and might encourage bad behavior among people where they think they're safe when their software doesn't chime in.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by MacNNUK 

It must have been software once

A phishing email is just a link to a website that looks like some other official website, along with some text designed to entice you to click it and enter your user details in that website.

It is no more "software" than somebody calling you on the phone claiming to be an employee of your bank and asking for your account details and password. That is the exact same thing.

[besson3c]

Speaking of which, I've been harassed 5+ times a day by these scammers wanting to give me a free gift card for using an old VISA card of mine which these scammers evidently have the numbers for. There have been tons of reports online of abuse from this spoofed number, the scammers reading the exact same script they read to me.

The unfortunate thing is, I came to learn that AT&T charges extra to block certain calls, which is a little offensive to me. This is another justification for jailbreaking, since there is software to block calls available for around $10 or so through Cydia.

I ended up assigning a silent ring tone to this scammer and disabling vibrate, but this whole ordeal is beyond annoying.

My point is that Spheric is right, this is basically phishing in another form.