British Airways e-Ticket Emails Found to Carry ZeuS Malware

We’ve often seen the names of American Airlines and Delta being utilized in malware-spreading campaigns, but it seems that British Airways is also a tempting target for cybercriminals.

AppRiver experts have come across a bogus British Airways e-ticket receipt that carries a malicious attachment. The attached file appears to be an innocent PDF inside an archive, but it’s actually an executable which unleashes the infamous information-stealing ZeuS.

The fake notification is fairly well designed, most of it being copied from a legitimate British Airways correspondence.

However, recipients are addressed with “Dear,” which is a clear indicator that it’s nothing more than a scam.

Here’s an excerpt from the email:

“Dear,

Thank you for booking with British Airways. Ticket Type: e-ticket
This is your e-ticket receipt. Your ticket is held in our systems, you will not receive a paper ticket for your booking.

Your itinerary is attached.”

Another interesting part reads: Virus checking of emails (including attachments) is the responsibility of the recipient.

So there, you heard it from the crooks themselves. Be sure to properly check an email before opening its attachment.