BOSTON -- E-cards may be a sweet gesture from your sweetie this Valentine's Day, but beware of e-mail scams sent by less than loving cyber-criminals. These criminals are taking advantage of the holiday to infect computers with nasty viruses, according to Internet security companies McAfee and AVG technologies.

"Beware that surprise e-card," wrote JR Smith, CEO of AVG in a blog post. "It could contain a whole load of heartache in the form of a hard drive hack designed to steal your identity."

Cyberscammers are sending e-cards with cute Shih tzu puppies, love notes reading "Deeply in love with you" and little red hearts to lure users to download a computer virus if they click on the links in the message.

To protect your computer, AVG and McAfee suggest that you do not open e-cards sent to you from people you don't know, or even e-mail the sender asking if they sent you an e-card. Do not open an e-mail with generic things in the subject line and make sure your security software is updated.

It is safer to copy and paste a URL from an e-mail into the browser than to click a link directly. E-card companies do not send cards as attachments. If you receive a card attachment, AVG suggests you delete the e-mail immediately.

Viruses from these e-mails, if clicked, may be installed without the user's knowledge.

If you suspect e-card an e-card contains a virus, you can file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.