14 DAY TRIAL // Are you the type of person that wants to do a good deed on Christmas day? If you are, then you should be on the lookout for the latest malware spreading campaign that’s been seen dropping in inboxes.
Baring the subject line Need your help!! this malicious scheme has two known variants. The first, a simpler one, asks the recipient about a bill, Commtouch Café informs.
“Hello! Look, I’ve received an unfamiliar bill, have you ordered anything? Here is the bill [malware link]. Please reply as soon as possible, because the amount is large and they demand the payment urgently. Looking forward to your answer,” reads the phony email.
In the meantime, the message has been updated to display a more outrageous story in which a man needs your help identifying a person that crossed a red light while driving the sender home.
“I was at a party, got drunk, couldn’t drive the car, somebody gave me a lift on my car, and crossed on the red light! I’ve just got the pictures, maybe you know him???Here is the photo [malware link] I need to find him urgently!” reads the second version.
Both the links lead the unsuspecting victim to a malicious website that makes a redirect to a piece of malware that infects computers.
Researchers from MXLab found a variant of the email listing a digital fingerprint code which should make the scam look even more legitimate.
According to the experts, the links can be identified as being malevolent since they hide a long suspicious URL which seems to be composed of random characters and variables.
I advise you to stay clear of these emails and if you spot them, make sure to delete them immediately. Also, an updated security solution can in many cases keep you out of trouble.