First, thanks to Gmail for saving me the trouble of actually seeing this email and going into a virus-scanning paranoid frenzy.
A quick google search showed that some similar emails pretending to be from Chase Paymentech (which is a real company) have been going around for the past year, and some actually look and sound pretty legitimate -- not "you're the only heir of a distant relative in Nigeria" sort of spam. The email attachments in these messages download all sorts of malware, notably Trojan.Zeus which monitors your activity to look for usernames and passwords.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
First, a good email service will filter out most of the bad stuff for you -- a great benefit to Gmail.
Second, always be skeptical and pay attention to the details of the email. For example, I'm familiar with Chase, but what exactly is Chase Paymentech and why would they be sending me a "Merchant Statement"? Also, it was sent to my AOL email address, which has been a collector of spam and suspicious emails since I was in middle school. I certainly don't have any financial things sent to that email address. Spam is generally not targeted all that well -- that is why it is spam! -- so there should be things about it that don't make sense.
Third, make sure you keep your computer safe. The annoying popup nagging you to restart your computer is there for a good reason. There are always new vulnerabilities that are being discovered and exploited. Update your computer when updates become available, particularly for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Flash. Adequate virus protection will also help you out. I have used Kapersky and Norton in the past, which are generally good products. There are also some free options, like Avast, which offer very basic protection if you're cheap like me!
Always remember to be careful, be skeptical, and when in doubt, don't click on any links!
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