virus messages on gtalk from friends beware ?

though gtalk is safe and reliable messenger and does not prone to virus infection compared to yahoo messenger but still some people are effectively use it has a medium to spread virus and other malwares... recently i got a message containing link from my friend see below pic.

i clicked on the link it downloaded some file to downloads folder and it was in a zip format most of the time i open the files directly from winzip window before extracting it, when i viewed it i found something fishy, it was actually an exe file disguised as image file then i immediately deleted the file.

guys if you get suspicious messages like below

I need an honest opinion to help with my decision, do you think my new hair style looks ok? hxxp://s12.safepictureblog.com:81/uploads/264537/MVS-NewPhoto13.JPEG.zip

I got wasted out of my mind the other night and someone was taking pics! How do I look? hxxp://www4.securepicturehost.com/archive/41326/NewPicture12.JPG.zip

If you suspect your friends does not send msgs something like above and if your friend does not respond to your messages further then no doubt its really a viral link... if you accidentally extracted and clicked on exe what will happen? see list of complication that might occur when you click on those links according avast and other anti-virus research team:

1. It will try to connect to remote servers without your consent thus revealing your ip other personal network details to remote server.

2. Download malicious files on your computer to further enhance hold on your computer.

3. Will infect your chat application steals your passwords and hijack your contact list.

4. Sends viral messages on your behalf further propagating virus to your friends, relatives and so on.

5. It does not limit to one messenger it even tries to access your other messengers such as skype, yahoo, msn and others.

6. Some variants may install key-logger without your consent thus stealing bank passwords and other vital information.

So how to overcome this? though most of the anitivirus are able to detect and remove this, sometimes these kind of virus are designed to bypass certain antivirus so its better to follow "Prevention is better than cure" mantra always be careful while click on any links blindly this can block almost 99% of the virus attack on your PC.