"Spam/Virus Sent" Emails Claiming to be From This Forum

[Art66]

Recently I've been getting emails, supposedly from this forum, which I have used in
the past with only the user name Art66, that spam has been detected as having been
sent from my computer, or that a virus has been detected on my computer. There is
a link for a virus check on this site, but when I click on it, it just brings up a blank
page. These messages have several names including Art66 in the "To" line, and they
are always from someone who is listed as having posted 0 messages, and having a
join date of March 2010. All of this makes it look suspicious, and the messages began
arriving last week.
I have a new email, the one I used to sign up for this forum is an old one, and I'm
going to deactivate it soon. If anyone knows anything about these messages, or if
switching over to my new email will make the messages go away, or fix whatever
problem there may be, please let me know.
I checked the first page of the spam section, and none of the user names
listed in the messages as belonging to me was there. That page dated back
to about 2 weeks before I started receiving the messages.
Thanks.

[Pegasus]

We get spammers in here every so often. I try to keep on top of them, but I miss a few. I'll send you a PM with an addy to forward the messages to, if you could.

Thanks.

[Pegasus]

This is what the private message looks like:

Dear, {several members names}!

A virus alert was noticed on your computer.
We highly recommend you to check your computer and perform online virus check at our site immediately: {url of malware site}
If you do not pass this test* we will have to delete your account and forward a complaint to your ISP with attached log file (your IP address, etc.).
----------------------------------------------------
Forum Administration www.htmlforums.com

This email does not, of course, come from the Admin of HTMLforums, nor is it authorized by us. Please don't follow the link. It's junk and it *will* infect your computer. It tried to infect mine, but I don't have any .exe files on my computer, so it just blew smoke. Not everyone is as lucky.

If you have clicked on the link, use any malware finder programme you have - except theirs - to get rid of it. I'm sure Scoutt or one of the other gurus in PCs can provide us with more detailed instructions.

Peg

[scoutt]

I agree Peg, do not click that link.

If anybody gets any kind of spam like that in there email/PM lets us know, they will get banned and blocked instantly.

If you ever get a email from somebody saying you are infected and they send you a link, DO NOT click it. It doesn't even matter if you know the person that sent it. There is also some going around saying your facebook or myspace password has change please run the exe attached, DO NOT click on that either, delete it right away.

Also do not believe any popup that says you are infected and click this link to clean, that is spyware/malware. It is a hoax and all they want to do is install crap on your PC.

Please use some common sense. If you do not know who or what was sent, do not click on it.