Can an email virus steal passwords?

It’s more likely that his account has been hacked and the hacker is just hoping you’ll wired him/her the money. However, you can take the following steps to make sure you’re safe:

1) Run any spyware/virus scans you normally do on your computer. If you don’t have any, Google Pack lets you install Norton and Spyware Doctor for free (including the removal of anything infected, as opposed to the free scan but you have to pay for the removal). Malware Bytes is also a great free scanner/remover.

2. Ask for some sort of verification that it’s really him. Maybe something like “Let me sleep on it. Oh, hey, the other night I was thinking about you and that cat you used to have – what was it’s name again” with the proper answer being “dude, I’ve never had a cat cuz I’m so allergic to them.”

This sounds like an email version of the Grandparents scam .
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