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| The chain letter contains a picture of the boy.
But media reports confirm he was identified in late December. |
Sophos technical support has reminded users of the nuisance that
can be caused by forwarding emails and the danger of opening
unsolicited email attachments, as a message asking if anyone can
identify a young victim of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster has
spread across the internet.
The email, which has been hitting inboxes across the world for
over a week, contains a photograph of a young blonde-haired boy in
a Thai hospital, who was found seemingly abandoned at the side of
the road on the holiday island of Phuket.
Many recipients of the email have forwarded it onto all of their
friends and colleagues, slowing down email systems because of the
attached photograph's 1MB size.
However, media reports from the end of December reveal that the
boy was identified as Hannes Bergstroem by members of his Swedish
family, and is now in safety.
"Even though this little boy is now safe, well-intentioned
internet users are still forwarding the chain letter, clogging up
email systems in the process," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "This can not only waste
bandwidth, but has resulted in some computer users contacting
anti-virus companies concerned that the email attachment may
contain a malicious payload."
A typical version of the email reads as follows:
Fw: Does anybody recognize this boy?
Looking for his family.
The boy about 2 years, from Khoa Lak is missing his parents.
Nobody knows what country he comes from. If anyboy known him please
contact us by phone 076-249400-4 ext. 1336, 1339 or e-mail :
info@phuket-inter-hospital.co.th
"It's understandable that people would want to help after the
recent tragic events, and many people who have seen the TV news
will feel moved to assist in any way that they can," continued
Cluley. "However, forwarding emails like this without checking if
they are still appropriate can mean they continue to spread long
after their usefulness has expired."
Although this email chain letter has no malicious intent, Sophos
experts have sighted email
financial scams and viruses that have played
on interest in the tsunami disaster.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.