"Dear Citizen" e-mail not from DOJ

"Dear Citizen" fraudulent e-mail messages claiming to be from the Department of Justice are on the rise.According to a press release, the DOJ said the messages state that the e-mail recipient has recently filed a complaint with the agency and / or the Internal Revenue Service and may go as far as to provide a case number purportedly "filled [sic] by Mr. Henry Stewart." A DOJ logo may appear at the top of the e-mail message or in an attached file. Finally, the message may include an attachment that supposedly contains a copy of the complaint and contact information for Mr. Stewart.The agency urged caution when reading these messages that ask the recipient to click on file attachments or to provide sensitive personal information. Computers may be put at risk simply by trying to open these as viruses, keystroke loggers, or other Trojan horse programs may be launched just by double-clicking on attachments to these messages. These attachments should not be opened, the e-mail should be deleted and the deleted items folder should be cleaned out.Similar hoaxes have also been sent out on behalf of other governmental agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service. Complaints in response to such e-mails can be filed at http://www.ic3.gov/.Visit http://onguardonline.gov/spyware.html and http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html for more information about protecting against malicious spyware and bogus e-mails.