Phishing/spamming query to Those Who Know

[wintergreen48]

Suppose you get a phishing or spamming message (I know, I know, never happens...) I know that if you open an attachment or click on a link, you have given yourself up to the forces of darkness. But what I am wondering is: is there a risk in just opening the e-mail itself?

I don't get a lot of these things (my filters are pretty good), and the few that I get I just delete without opening/looking at them. But I was wondering if there is a risk in opening the e-mail itself? I figure that the computer savvy people here would know.

Oh, and a sort of related anecdote: I got a message that I was really uncertain about, but did eventually open it. It was from 'Jessica Manlove,' and I figured, that HAS to be a fake name, but the message did not offer to enhance my, um, endowment, nor did it mention that Hot Housewives Want You!!! or anything like that; turns out that 'Jessica Manlove' is her real name, and she is an employee of my college's alumni relations ('please send us money') office.

[silvercamaro]

she is an employee of my college's alumni relations ('please send us money') office.

If that's not phishing, I don't know what is!

[mrkelley23]

I've heard conflicting stories, but I tend to err on the side of caution in these cases. Snopes does not show any viruses/worms that are opened by merely opening the email, but I've also seen warnings about just that. I just can't remember how reputable the source was.

[MarleysGh0st]

I don't get a lot of these things (my filters are pretty good), and the few that I get I just delete without opening/looking at them. But I was wondering if there is a risk in opening the e-mail itself? I figure that the computer savvy people here would know.

In the days when e-mail was just plain text, we used to say there was absolutely no risk. Now, it depends on what kind of software you use to read your e-mail. There have been a few exploits that could work just by reading HTML-rendered e-mail or viewing an image that has been evilly crafted to take advantage of a vulnerability in the image-viewing software.

I'd say the odds are far, far less (particularly if you keep your PC update with the latest security patches) than if you open a suspicious attachment, but we can't give you 100% certainty.

[Bob Juch]

I don't get a lot of these things (my filters are pretty good), and the few that I get I just delete without opening/looking at them. But I was wondering if there is a risk in opening the e-mail itself? I figure that the computer savvy people here would know.

In the days when e-mail was just plain text, we used to say there was absolutely no risk. Now, it depends on what kind of software you use to read your e-mail. There have been a few exploits that could work just by reading HTML-rendered e-mail or viewing an image that has been evilly crafted to take advantage of a vulnerability in the image-viewing software.

I'd say the odds are far, far less (particularly if you keep your PC update with the latest security patches) than if you open a suspicious attachment, but we can't give you 100% certainty.

I agree. If you have security software than scans your messages, that's better, but there's still a risk.