Massive spam campaign distributes the Cridex worm

Dec 7, 2012 12:05 GMT  ·  By

Since a large number of users rely on PayPal when making online purchases, it’s likely that they’ll panic when they receive a notification from the payment processor informing them that products worth several hundred dollars have been purchased from their accounts.

Cybercriminals are counting on this to ensure the success of their campaigns. They’ve started sending out fake PayPal notifications which inform recipients that a Microsoft Windows 8 Pro Anytime Upgrade, or 84 copies of a vintage photo collection of college girls have been purchased.

When victims click on the links contained in these emails, they’re taken to BlackHole-infested sites that serve the notorious Cridex worm, GFI Software researchers reveal.

These types of emails have been making the rounds for quite some time now, but judging by the fact that their numbers haven’t dropped, it’s safe to say that they’re still efficient in distributing malware.

That’s why I advise you to be extra careful when receiving emails out of the blue. Always check out the URLs the links point to and make sure that an antivirus is running in the background.