Those can also be in Email attachments so be careful what you open.
Someone got ahold of the Email list at my DH's company several months ago and sent out official looking Emails from "administrator" (ie administrator@ "his company's name".com) to all the employees. There was no such Email address there. If you opened the Email the virus tried to load itself. If it did, it would encrypt the hard drive information and you would get an Email saying that you would get the key if you sent money. (Even if you do you never get the key.)
http://www.snopes.com/computer...
Fortunately, most Email scams depend on us being gullible, greedy, compassionate or some combination of those to get you. It is always best not to respond. Do we really think that someone wants our help to get 2 million dollars out of Uganda?
Here is a list of many computer viruses that you can get:
http://www.snopes.com/computer...
