Re: Email from Microsoft (?)

This message is not random as the OP signed up to receive these notices.
I get them regularly because I have signed up as well.
Since the OP signed up, it is not unsolicited.

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Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org


"Alex Krawarik [MSFT]" <alexkr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:OKmXVOLmHHA.4876@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
but for now I'm no expert and relatively new to the "MS way" ...

Actually, as a general rule Microsoft does not send out random e-mail (especially about patches and updates and stuff). So if you ever see a mail purporting to contain a critical patch coming from "Microsoft" you can pretty much bet money its malware, just like you can bet money a mail from "paypal" is a scam.

1. How do I check that it's actually from Microsoft and not a spoofed send
address (I have SBS2003 R2 SP2 installed but I haven't yet configured the IMF
to check the Sender ID - how do I check that manually ?)

These days its best to start your morning knowing that any unsolicited mail is untrusted and treated with utmost caution, period.

2. How do I check that the links in the email actually point to where they
say they point to (ok I have IE7 which SHOULD prevent phishing attacks right?
but again I'm interested to know how to assure myself manually)

Read all mail as plain text. Email "thick" clients allow you to do this. I've been using Outlook 2007 and its actually pretty nice. My default view is plain text, but if for some reason I want to see "pretty" HTML formatting for particularly involved mails, or images, I can turn on HTML viewing in one click. If you are using a web-based client (hotmail, gmail, whatevah), you may get to view only in HTML. Today, Hotmail (Live Classic) doesnt allow a default view as text, which is a bit lame, but you can either hover over a suspicious link, and the address will be displayed in bottom left (IE) or cut and paste into a test editor and the meta data for the link should be displayed.

Thanks all. Sorry if these are dumb questions or posted in the wrong place.

Not dumb, welcome.

Alex

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