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View Full Version : EVERYBODY READ- The dangers of I.C.E's



Abi
24-07-2005, 19:45
I received this from a friend in the police force - just be wary ...

"I've had loads of messages along the lines of this so take ICE no's off your phone till we know more!

Originally the ICE phone numbers , standing for "In Case of Emergency", were
meant to help when someone is injured or in a difficult situation,
indicating to First Aiders or the Emergency Services who to contact as next
of kin. It now seems to put our phones at risk of a virus infection.

The advice given to us is as follow:

"Be very careful with this one - although the intention is great it is
unfortunately phase one of a phone based virus that is laying a path for
propagating very quickly. Passing it on is part of the virus interestingly,
such is the deviousness of the people who write these things.

We have already seen the "second phase" where a program is sent as part of a ring-tone download that goes into your address book and looks for something it recognises - you've guessed it, an address book entry marked "ICE or I.C.E." or whatever. It then sends itself to the "ICE list", charging you for the privilege."

We would advise everyone who has set up these ICE numbers to delete them or rename them back to the person's name. Furthermore, you could rename it to its full meaning 'in case of emergency', as the virus may or may not recognise this"

Jade
24-07-2005, 19:58
Vodafone have moved to reassure customers that putting ICE (In Case of Emergency) in your mobile phone will NOT cause a problem.
A spokesman for the company said it helped the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust launch the initiative earlier this year.
An email has since been circulating suggesting that it is part of a mobile phone virus which searches your address book, locates the ICE entry and charges you for calls or downloads made.
Matt Ware, communications officer for the EAAT, said: "It amazes me how many people - including some Police services and NHS Trusts - have fallen for this hoax.
"All you are doing when you input ICE is adding an entry into your address book. It is 100% impossible for anyone or anything external to search your phone's address book.
"If it were possible then the entire mobile phone industry would already have come crashing down around us as magical forces scoured our address books for common entries such as mum, dad, home or work."
Mr Ware urged people who received the email to engage their brains before blindly forwarding it on like a lemming.
He added: "If you've got this far, thank you for bothering to check the news section with the big 'NOT A SCAM' headline before posting a message on our guestbook asking if this is a scam..."

FROM NHS WEBSITE