This Microsoft mail is real, not a virus!

BANGALORE: MSN users were taken aback when they received numerous copies of the following mail from Microsoft. The subject of the mail looks similar to hoax mails that frequently do the rounds on the Net.

ATTENTION: IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED FOR MSN AND WINDOWS MESSENGER USERS.

You are receiving this e-mail because you are a MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger Service user.

As part of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative, Microsoft is updating the .NET Messenger Service and providing you with an important MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger security update.

If you are using MSN Messenger 5.0, Windows Messenger 4.7.2000, or MSN Messenger for Mac 3.5, or any versions higher than these, you do NOT need this security update. To find out which version you have, select the 'Help' menu in Messenger, then select 'About'. If you are using an older version, or are not sure, please visit:

http://messenger.msn.com/Help/Upgrades.aspx for an update.

NOTICE: If you are not using an updated version, you will be unable to continue using your MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger Service.

Thank you for helping Microsoft further its commitment to helping you protect your privacy and security online.

You can view the .NET Messenger Statement of Privacy at:

http://messenger.msn.com/Help/Privacy.aspx and the .NET Messenger Service Terms of Use and Notices at:

http://messenger.msn.com/Help/Terms.aspx.

One the most famous and "successful" hoax mails in the recent past warned users of a deadly virus that they might have affected their computers. The mail suggested that the users can get rid of the virus by deleting a file called sulfnbk.exe in their "windows" folder. Unsuspecting users deleted this file only to realize that this was a legitimate file that is part of the Windows operating system.

The doubts about the mail from Microsoft is strengthened by the fact that the company, has not put up any notification about the "locking out" of MSN users.