TOP virus scan to safely scan a suspicious email attachment

Normally we all have a virus detection software residing on our computers to protect data files from malware. We have learned not to open attachments from unknown email addresses. But what if you want to get a second opinion about a suspicious email attachment? Can you run a virus scan on the email attachment?

How to scan email attachments for viruses online

If you receive an email from someone and it seems suspicious, contact Virus Total to view the attachment. Virus Total Online Virus Checking is an effort by VT (Total Virus) for a better Internet

Scanning email attachments using VirusTotal

Total Virus will scan the attachment with a different anti -malware software and send you information in response to your email . The email will include information about the origin of the attachment.

Sending attachments to VirusTotal

Here is a step-by-step guide to scanning the attachment for the virus online.

1. Save the suspicious message as an attachment. In Outlook, right-click the item and select Save as Attachment, then select where to save it.
2. Create a new email message
3. In the “To” field, type scan@virustotal.com
4. If you want the Virus Total Online Scanner results in plain text, write SCAN in the subject line. If you also need an XML version, write SCAN + XML in the subject line
5. Attach the email you saved as an attachment
6. Press the Send button.

You can also forward an email you may have received with a suspicious attachment to scan@virustotal.com and write SCAN in the subject line.

The response from Total Virus will show you the results in the format you requested.

You can see the details of the suspicious message in the email. If you had selected SCAN + XML, you will receive a plain text message and an XML encoded page. If you select XML, it may take longer to process. So you should wait a while.