A virus that does not come from PayPal

Hi,
You may know about this scam but in case you dont I'm posting this.

I got an email yestereday that looked suspicious, I copied it and sent it to PayPal, the sender according to the email is PayPal, to check that they did or did not send it.
I got a reply an hour ago stating that they did NOT send it, and it links to a virus on the "websites" in the email..

If you get one DO NOT click on any of the links, you will get a virus.
This is most of the email, I deleted the email after I copied it to PayPal.

===========================================================

>Things aren't always as safe as they seem

>Dear ***************, ( I removed my name)
>
>
>Fake email or 'phishing' is a common technique used by online fraudsters.
>But there's an easy way to outsmart them and keep your PayPal account
>even safer.
>
>The Iconix email ID tool checks to see if the emails you receive are
>legitimate or fake. Once you've installed the software, you'll see an
>Iconix eMail ID icon whenever you receive emails from PayPal - so you
>know they're genuine.
>
>
>Iconix is free and works with Gmail, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook
>and many more email providers.
>
>
>Download Iconix now

~Possible malware link removed.~
>
>
>Yours sincerely,
>
>PayPal
================================================================

 

dear ian, if the link u posted redirects to a known infected site i think u should remove it, accordingly to the forums rules.

 

Thanks for posting this Nodder

 

I get this email no less than 20 times a day.

I also get similar emails from:

Banks - which I don't even have accounts with.
Ebay
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
various other social networking sites I've never heard of
etc..

I've even received a few hundred emails from the "Internal Revenue Service" claiming I have underreported income.

All of which contain links to websites that are infected, but look genuine.

Basically, if you get an email from anywhere telling you that your account has expired, or whatnot, its bad.

Kinda makes me long for the days of just bogus phishing emails asking for my credentials.. lol.