yes i have been shown how to to do it,  the pics too........ but most importantly so do bad people. if you see the sparkles in chat, it means you are at risk! this also includes any other font effects, hidden text, gator heads, background pictures  etc.....

why?  cause it can be bad, very bad...it is pulling an image, from another website, (IT IS NOT A YAHOO IMAGE) and  forces your computer to accept it...... it bypasses your firewall, your antivirus and any other security you may have up. it could start a download of a LARGE MULTIPLE MEGABYTE FILE ! it can lag your server, consume your bandwidth or worse. i wont show people how to hurt another's computer. THESE TRICKS ARE NOT SAFE!!!!!! THINK OF IT AS COMPUTER SEX ~ YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT PIC HAS BEEN !!!!

it is a cute trick, but it is a security hole...and is a sign that other things can be done. it establishes an UNAUTHORIZED CONNECTION TO YOUR COMPUTER AND DOWNLOADS A FILE WITHOUT PERMISSION TO YOUR COMP!  it makes everything on messenger appear to have come from a trusted site. it allows Active content in the local zone without restriction confirmation or notification. yes, the correct response to that is.. "  OMG ARE THEY NUTS!!!!!!!!!! "  these  image could even possibly  hosted on a server that is infected with a virus. its cute. but could turn your computer into a paperweight fast! 

if you see something like the above pic..... a black or grey box, with your ip ( ip is your computer unique address, the secret address.. the one no one should have!!! ) for example, a bad chatter can even steal your yahoo cookie and id with a similar trick, or load a bad file on your computer.  

get off messenger......or update to the latest fixed version or get a client

and for more info mess.html

and a side note ~ i was wandering around the net, checking sites that listed as linked to me, and was disheartened to see multiple slams of this page on other help sites!  i believe the quote i like best was about how "nhyrvana is an alarmist, running like chicken little about messenger - the sky is not falling."  another site alleged i couldn't do it... look at the pics.  

i can, and did, but because of the implications WILL NOT SHOW HOW TO!!  lets get real ~ go look at the facts, its all true ~ the security issues, the people who were infected with viruses from the flaw, and that yahoo scrambled with 4 SEPARATE updated versions in rapid succession to fix that exploit. 

pay attention to where you get your info ~