Virus alert email: genuine?

[MrGongGong]

never believe anything you read on the internet or in a book , newspaper, church , school , temple, palace, cave etc etc
don't ever assume that anything you do on the internet is confidential
don't for a minute believe that all the people who post on this messageboard are real or even believe a word of what they say (not mentioning any names )

then you will be happy

but maybe alone

[Don Petter]

I receive a virtually identical scam message purporting to be from my bank, Lloydstsb, about once every six months, Ferret. At least HSBC contacted you to reassure you all was OK; I can't thunk of the number of times I've posted this message onto the equivalent department at Lloyds, and have never received an acknowledgement.

I've had them (purportedly) from Lloyds/TSB, HSBC, Santander, PayPal, Co-op Bank, Western Union, and CocaCola. Some of them look very realistic, with proper logos etc. The easy ones to spot are those where you have had no dealings with the organisation, the others need a second look, but not for long!

Examining the background email address usually reveals some very uncharacteristic elements.