Opening suspect e mails on a Mac

Hi. I have recently been receiving lots of e mails that have .zip files attached, from postmaster@....., the FBI, CIA etc. I have read on the net that these all contain the sober worm in various forms. I normally just delelte them. Today however I received one from a company that I deal with, postmaster@ the company name.com saying that a mail that I sent was undeliverable. The message had an attached .zip file which made me suspicious. so I deleted it.
My question is.. If this contained some sort of worm or virus, although I don't think that it can affect my Mac, could it affect any e mails that might send to PC's? By that I mean infect or attack the Pcs that received the e mails? The amount of these things floating about on the net is astonishing.

Because I also run Office for Mac, is it likely that any virus or worm
could then attach itself to any windows files or folders?
You can potentially infect a Windows user if you forward a file that is infected with a Windows virus.
If you open a file that is infected with a Windows virus, it cannot automatically attach itself to any other files on your Mac since a Windows virus is written for and only affects Windows users. Opening a file attached to an email message that is infected with a Windows virus has no effect on OS X.
The following was copied from Macs, viruses, and anti-virus software.
A Mac can spread a PC virus to a Windows user. There are two ways this can happen. The first way is via an email attachment; if a Mac user receives an infected file in an email, and then clicks the Forward button and forwards it on to a friend, then that friend might become infected.
The second way a Mac can spread a Windows virus is in a client/server or LAN environment. If a Mac is acting as a file server on a LAN that has Windows users, a Windows user can copy an infected file onto the Mac file server, and then another Windows user can copy the infected file off.
The easiest and most low-impact way to stop a Mac from spreading Windows email viruses does not rely on software; it relies on common sense. Do not forward messages with attachments to other people. No matter who you think they are from and what you think is in them. If you do not know, personally, what the file is, or you did not create it, don't forward it. Even if it has the Microsoft logo and official looking text saying "This is a Windows security update." Even if it just looks like a harmless joke. Even if it promises hot pictures of Britney Spears naked in unbelievable oral XXX action. Do not forward emails with attachments to other people. If you are on a Mac, on a Windows machine, on a Sun, it doesn't matter...Do not forward emails with attachments to other people.

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