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There is a new e-card virus currently making the rounds that is targeting your cash and wreaking mayhem on your computer. Experts are calling the virus ’severe’, and it is being disguised as a Hallmark greeting card.

Basically there is an email going around, that in one case even came to someones inbox as an email from ecards@hallmark.com. It says something along the lines of you have received a Hallmark greeting card from a friend, to view it click the attachment, which is named postcard.zip.

However, Hallmark doesn’t have any e-cards that they make you download. This is a virus, and it’s after your money. It’s primary goal is to steal your financial information, like your banking pin number and the like. It has been making it’s way from Eastern Europe, and could just send the greeting card business back to paper cards, it is that bad.

It works by infecting core Window’s files slowly, so that you never even know it’s there, and it’s going to be just about impossible to fix it with your run of the mill anti virus. So what kind of protection efforts are being made?

Well with Hallmark, they never require any downloading of files, nor do they use .exe files. If you get an e-card from Hallmark that asks you to download something, delete it. It’s not genuine and will infect your computer.

Also, with Hallmark, e-cards are always sent from the sender, not from Hallmark itself. So if you receive something from Hallmark itself, or don’t recognize the sender, again it isn’t genuine, and you need to delete it.

They never require the receiver to enter any type of personal info or user names and passwords to retrieve an e card, and all notifications will have a link to the card on Hallmark.com, and a URL to the e card inside the actual email.

Bottom line? Don’t open any e cards from unfamiliar people, and until this threat passes, it is probably best to refrain from getting e cards altogether.

If you’ve been following the news, you know that lately there has been an outbreak of bogus email ecards. These emails claim that you can pick up an ecard at a link included in the email, which actually contains a virus, Trojan, or other harmful software. More and more people are afraid to open any email that claims to be an ecard due to this outbreak of spam email. This article will teach you how to protect yourself from bogus email ecards, and how to identify problematic email before it damages your computer.

The first part of the email that you should carefully examine is the subject line. Most valid ecards will contain the name of the service that sent them, as well as the sender’s name. Bogus email ecards will have a statement like “a classmate has sent you an ecard” “a family member has sent you an ecard” or “x username has sent you an ecard”. If the subject line of the email you receive is very general in nature, it is probably not a valid ecard and you should delete the email without opening it. If an ecard arrives in your inbox from an unknown source, or you are not expecting a card, you should consider deleting it as well.

You should always examine the text of your ecard, as well. Take time to look over the message before clicking on any links. Does the text identify the sender? Is it someone you know? Does it mention the company that has sent the card? Are there glaring grammatical errors, unclear English, or other tip-offs that make you hesitate? If so, don’t open the links and delete the email.

Many bogus email ecards contain a link that connects you to a site where harmful programs are downloaded to your email. If there is a link in your email, hover over it with your mouse to see where it goes. Does it go to a valid ecard site? Beware of links that end with a .exe suffix. This means that the link is an executable program – most likely a virus or Trojan. Valid ecard sites send an email with a link, as well as a code that you can copy and paste onto their website to pick up your card. If your email does not contain such a code, it’s probably not from a valid source.

In general, if you have any hesitation at all, avoid clicking on a link in your email. Instead, delete it without reading. Doing so will help protect your computer from problematic software. If the email is unclear, difficult to read, or from an unfamiliar sender, most likely it is not a real ecard and should be avoided. If it contains a link that ends in .exe, it should be avoided. And if the subject line is overly general and does not contain the name of a known sender, it should be avoided. Following these guidelines will help you to protect yourself from bogus email ecards, and allow you to open cards from friends and loved ones with confidence.