Virus though HTML email ?

[shioriharu]

Hi!

Funny thing lately i was boasting to ppl about how i am virus-free for years, then today i got an e-mail that looked suspicious.

The sender was "Suzanne" and the topic was related to dating and i was sitting there for like 5 minutes thinking before opening the email. I NEVER OPEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT, but this time i dont know why, i did.
I really cant explain why i did, it was like, karma got the better of me....so i opened it, and it was a bunch of yellow text upon a brown background.
I lingered a few seconds, waiting for my avast to warn me, or something to happen, after that i immediately deleted the message and cut off internet connection.
Next step was to run Avast at startup, set the high-awareness.
So far it didnt find any viruses but im researching about HTML mail infection and im a bit worried what could happen.
I would like to know what to get prepared for.

In that few seconds i didnt see any installments, didnt click on the bacground (or picture?) didnt see an attachment and seemingly the mail was harmless, but the possibility of it being a malicious HTML email is freaking me out.
Can you really get infected by just opening an email, or a HTML coded email ?


EDIT: Oh yeah, the sender also knew how old i am and where i live exactly, which is probably not a good sign

 

[tigerg]

Pure HTML is just a markup language, it doesn't go beyond presentation of information. If the HTML called to load flash or some kind of script, there is a potential for harm.

If you didn't click on any links or download any files or attachments, you are unlikely to have a problem. A good practice is to not even open emails from senders you don't recognize, even if it sounds like it is coming from a "sexy single in your area".