i_safe.gif

amwilson40 · Joined: Jul 19, 2008 Posts: 3

My husband uses MSN Hotmail for his e-mail. He has been getting messages where the inlcuded supposed picture is only a grey box. Right ckicking the file says "i_safe.gif". I searched this name and find that it is in many Hotmail messages. What is this? The same e-mail sent to other recipients shows the picture.

dawg1955 · Joined: Jul 31, 2008 Posts: 2

If you get an E-mail from ANYONE that you don't recognise or the address, topic looks strange, the best thing is DO NOT open it! Delete it. Malware is typically delivered by you just opening the mail. E-mail spammers verify that your e-mail address is active when you open or after you open and then you click on the message to 'remove you' from their mailing list.
What you describe may not be anything, but it's far better to be safe. I'm not an expert by any means but hopefully someone here may give you a better answer. Good luck

amwilson40 · Joined: Jul 19, 2008 Posts: 3

Thanks. These messages are from people we know. Other friends with other e-mail services can see or open the pictures.

glup · Joined: Jul 24, 2008 Posts: 21

Hi...I've encountered the same problem. In fact, I found this web site doing an i_safe.gif web search and your post came up. I used the Problem Solvers link and have received a lot of really good feedback on this problem. It seems it might be related to people using an upload site and then extensive forwarding of pics....by the time you get them, they are blank.....also Hotmail appears to have some issues as well. At first, I thought it was something on my end, but that is not the case. It seems to have something to do with the way the emails are uploaded, saved and forwarded multiple times. You can view my post and all responses on this site. Just click on Home, then General; Problem Solvers and scroll down to the topic entitled i_safe.gif. Right now it's number 7, but that might change. We can't correct the problem on our end but at least we know why it's happening. Hope this sheds some light on your situation. Good Luck.

amwilson40 · Joined: Jul 19, 2008 Posts: 3

Thank you very much. I am glad to find the thread in problem solvers and will watch it. I didn't know where to start with a question in the beginning. When I started I couldn't find anything by trying a search.

glup · Joined: Jul 24, 2008 Posts: 21

Glad to help. Just as info, MSN had recently suggested the problem might be related to my browser settings and gave step by step instructions to reset. Most were already set as they suggested....two weren't, but the changes made NO difference. I got another email today containing an i_safe.gif image. Of course, I saw a gray box. So it's definitely not the browser settings. I've asked the sender to resend to my yahoo mail account. I'm curious to see if it comes through or if it's something related to Hotmail. I'll post in the Problem Solvers once I receive it again.

glup · Joined: Jul 24, 2008 Posts: 21

Good Morning. Just wanted to give you a personal update since we both have the same problem. I received an email containing an i_safe.gif image in Hotmail yesterday....same thing....gray box. Asked the sender to resend to my Yahoo mail account. Guess what .... came through PERFECT; however, the pic properties were different when sent to Yahoo. Rather than i_safe.gif, the format read: download?mid=1%5f2295%5fAPhKk0UAAHelSJUtuQksbhOLV9A&pid=2.2&fid=Inbox&inline=1. I resent the email from my Yahoo account to my MSN/Hotmail account and once again a gray box. Looks like this issue is truly a Hotmail issue. I'm thinking maybe I'll use Yahoo more.