General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

Mollie said,

"I started to get loads of them ........ even from people I know and who I have in my Contacts"

and also, "Best advice I was given many years ago was, if you don't know the sender, don't open them"

That will happen, when it is not you but the sender whose device is infected with the malware, and it distributes its payload to the contents of THEIR contact list. More difficult, as measures you take will not clean the machines that are posting this stuff to you.

But it gets worse:

'ExploreZip':

A clever virus that spreads through emails.

ExploreZip would not instantly send messages to your entire contact list, but instead spread by waiting to notice when you receive an email.

It then replies with “Hi ! I received your email and I shall send you a reply ASAP. Till then, take a look at the attached zipped docs. Bye.” (or similar)

Very sneaky, as not only will this not be seen as originating from an unknown sender but from the person to whom you have yourself just emailed, so receiving their reply is certainly not unexpected.

Like most other worms of this type, it’s best prevented by avoiding suspicious attachments and links. (but are you going to be suspicious, when this seems to be kosher: a reply from the person to whom you have just sent a message.)