Today I received three e-mails all purporting to be from Hallmark, although Hotmail had not detected that the e-mails contained a link to a virus it had actually blocked the links as the e-mails were not from a known sender.

Fortunately, as I had no reason to expect any e-cards, I did a quick check on the Hallmark site and discovered they were fake - but they were very good imitations of the real thing.

Had this been on an occasion such as a birthday or Christmas or had I been a bit quicker clicking the mouse buttons I could easily have been infected.