WASHINGTON —  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported to authorities Friday an e-mail circulating to employers that alleges to be a harassment complaint from the federal agency and contains links to a computer virus.

Employers who were receiving the fraudulent e-mails called the EEOC to see if they were legitimate.

The agency reported the e-mails to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a government-private industry partnership based at the Homeland Security Department that responds to cyber-attacks.

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Recipients of the fraudulent e-mail are led to believe they can access details of a discrimination claim by clicking on links in the e-mail, which is circulated under the subject "Harassment Complaint Update For."

The e-mail contains links to a virus that is likely to harm the recipient's computer if the user clicks on the referenced link or downloads the attached file, according to an EEOC announcement Friday.

Under EEOC policy, employers are notified of the filing of an employment discrimination charge using postal mail and not through e-mail because of security concerns.

"The e-mail appear specifically to be going to human resource staff with the company," said David Grinberg, an EEOC spokesman. "We suspect (the e-mail) may be generated from overseas