FYI...
Fake NDR SPAM - PDF malware
- http://myonlinesecur...ke-pdf-malware/
3 Sep 2014 - "'NDR Bill' pretending to come from Ebilling <Ebilling@ westlothian .gov.uk> is another one from the current zbot runs which try to drop cryptolocker, ransomware and loads of other malware on your computer. They are using email addresses and subjects that will entice a user to read the email and open the attachment... Non domestic rates bills normally come out in February or March each year, so using this email template in September will or should raise alarm bells immediately. This particular email allegedly being sent by a Scottish Local Council should immediately alert a recipient in the rest of UK to being totally bogus:
Please find attached your Non Domestic Rates bill.
If your account is in credit you are due a refund unless you have any other debt due to the Council.
To allow your credit to be processed please confirm:
- If you want the credit transferred to another account you have with us. Please confirm the account details. – If you want the credit refunded by cheque, please confirm who it should be sent to and the address.
Links to Non Domestic Rates information are detailed below.
Important Note: If you access these links using a mobile phone the network provider may charge for this service.
Yours sincerely Scott Reid Revenues Manager ...
3 September 2014: 00056468.pdf.zip ( 207 kb): Extracts to 00056468.pdf.exe
Current Virus total detections: 3/55* . This is another one of the spoofed icon files that unless you have “show known file extensions enabled“, will look like a proper PDF file instead of the .exe file it really is, so making it much more likely for you to accidentally open it and be infected..."
* https://www.virustot...sis/1409725854/
- http://blog.dynamoo....bill-email.html
3 Sep 2014 - "Sometimes spammers come up with weird approaches. This one is a bill from West Lothian Council in the UK.. well, actually it -isn't- a bill but it comes with a malicious attachment.
From: Ebilling [Ebilling@ westlothian .gov.uk]
Date: 3 September 2014 09:20
Subject: NDR Bill
Please find attached your Non Domestic Rates bill...
Attached is a file 00056468.pdf.zip which contains a malicious executable D0110109.PDF.exe (which has an icon to make it look like a PDF file). This has a low detection rate at VirusTotal of 4/55*... This second component has a VT detection rate of just 3/55**. The Anubis report shows an attempted phone home to 80.94.160.129 (National Academy of Sciences of Belarus) and 92.222.46.165 (OVH, France)
Recommended blocklist:
80.94.160.129
92.222.46.165 ..."
(More at the dynamoo URL above.)
* https://www.virustot...sis/1409733696/
** https://www.virustot...sis/1409734574/
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“YouTube Account Manager has sent you a Message…”
- https://blog.malware...-you-a-message/
Sep 3, 2014 - "We’ve seen some complaints of a message sent to YouTube users via the YouTube messaging system, warning of account suspension:
YouTube account manager has sent you a message
We’d like to inform you that due to repeated or severe violations of our community guidelines and your YouTube account will be suspended 3 days from the time of this message. After careful review we determined that activity in your account violated our community guidelines, which prohibit spam, scams or commercially deceptive content. Please be aware that you are prohibited from accessing, possessing or creating any other YouTube accounts.
Please follow the following instructions to recover your account:
1. Please contact your account manager here: [url]
2. You have to complete a quick survey to make sure you are human.
3. Wait for our email explaining the next steps.
* If you decide to ignore this message and not follow the above steps your account will be suspended.
This is what you would see after hitting the supplied link in the message:
“Complete a survey to verify your account”
> http://blog.malwareb...untmanager1.jpg
This one is a survey scam, and whoever is sending these messages is looking to make a little cash along with the panic they’re no doubt whipping up in YouTube users right about now. The links displayed on the left hand side are regional and will take clickers to various offers / surveys / signups and downloads. If you’re in any doubt as to the status of your YouTube account, you’d be better served contacting them directly than being tricked by these false messages currently in circulation. Scammers will often use similar tactics to send phishing links and malware, so in some ways recipients of this missive are getting the best of a bad deal – it’s “only” surveys and forms to fill in, along with the occasional download. However, that doesn’t mean we should rush to jump through their survey sign-up hoops either. Steer clear of this one, and keep on making those videos."
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Fake 'Internet free' email SCAM - malware attachment
- http://myonlinesecur...ke-pdf-malware/
3 Sep 2014 - "'Transaction via the Internet free of charge, ID:I613410_745' pretending to come from Santander BillPay is another one from the current zbot runs which try to drop cryptolocker, ransomware and loads of other malware on your computer... The -scammers-, malware purveyors and phishers do get more creative every day and this email is quite creative, with a link to report suspicious emails to Santander and genuine links to Visa, MasterCard and VeriSign in their efforts to persuade you that it is a genuine email and that you should open the attachment:
Dear <removed>,
Our system detectet that you have made a bill payment using our cloud-based BillPay processing website.
You can find all details regarding the transaction in attachment.
Important information on recent fake email activityA number of UK banks have recently been targeted by fraudsters using emails to ask customers to enter their security details into a fake website.
At Santander Corporate Banking we will never send you an email that asks you to verify your security details or link to Internet banking. If you receive an email claiming to be from Santander Corporate Banking that you are suspicious about, please forward it to phishing@ santander .co.uk
If you are worried that someone may already have your personal security details, then please contact us on 0151 966 2105. Calls are recorded and may be monitored for security, quality control and training purposes...
3 September 2014 : I613410_745.zip ( 57kb): Extracts to Bill_Payment_2E_832e458.pdf.exe
Current Virus total detections: 1/54* ... This 'Transaction via the Internet free of charge, ID:I613410_745' is another one of the spoofed icon files that unless you have “show known file extensions enabled“, will look like a proper PDF file instead of the .exe file it really is, so making it much more likely for you to accidentally open it and be infected..."
* https://www.virustot...sis/1409750135/
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Fake attached CBE form SPAM - PDF malware
- http://myonlinesecur...rm-pdf-malware/
3 Sep 2014 - "'Please review the attached CBE form' pretending to come from Jonathan.Bledsoe@ adp .com is another one from the current zbot runs which try to drop cryptolocker, ransomware and loads of other malware on your computer. They are using email addresses and subjects that will entice a user to read the email and open the attachment... This email contains a genuine PDF file that is malformed and contains a script virus and can infect you with no action on your part by simply previewing the PDF in your browser or in the PDF reader...
Importat message, read right away.
Please review the attached CBE form, If you require changes to the options shown, please contact me right away so that we may address your concerns. We will record your elections in our system and provide you a final Client Confirmation Statement for your review.
Please sign and send it back.
Regards,
ADP TotalSource Benefits Team
3 September 2014 : cbe_form.pdf - Current Virus total detections: 8/54*
... more targeted at somebody who regularly is likely to receive PDF attachments or Word .doc attachments or any other common file that you use every day..."
* https://www.virustot...sis/1409761379/
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Fake 'August report' SPAM - PDF malware
- http://myonlinesecur...ke-pdf-malware/
3 Sep 2014 - "'August Report' pretending to come from Jackie Cantrell <Jackie.Cantrell@ bankmanager .com> is another one from the current zbot runs which try to drop cryptolocker, ransomware and loads of other malware on your computer. They are using email addresses and subjects that will entice a user to read the email and open the attachment...
Hello , Please find attached documents for last month. Please could you sign the BACs form and return it as your approval that I am to go ahead with the transmission. Kind regards Jackie Payroll Manager
This email attachment has 2 files inside it. Both are identical although have different names, so the bad guys get 2 bites at the cherry.
3 September 2014: BACs_Documents.zip ( 20 kb): Extracts to BACs_Documents.scr
and to Case_090314.scr . Current Virus total detections: 12/55* . This August Report is another one of the spoofed icon files that unless you have “show known file extensions enabled“, will look like a proper PDF file instead of the .exe file it really is, so making it much more likely for you to accidentally open it and be infected..."
* https://www.virustot...sis/1409724912/
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Fake Sky .com SPAM ...
- http://blog.dynamoo....spam-again.html
3 Sep 2014 - "These fake Sky emails are pretty common and have a malicious attachment:
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2014 09:17:22 +0200 [03:17:22 EDT]
From: "Sky.com" [statement@ sky .com]
Subject: Statement of account
Afternoon,
Please find attached the statement of account.
We look forward to receiving payment for August, invoice as this is now due for payment.
Regards,
Clark ...
The attachment is Statement.zip which contains a malicious executable Statement.scr which has a reasonable VirusTotal detection rate of 18/55*. The Anubis report indicates that the binary phones home..."
* https://www.virustot...sis/1409736793/
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Fake 'Important Documents' email SPAM - PDF malware
- http://myonlinesecur...ke-pdf-malware/
3 Sep 2014 - "'RE: Important Documents' pretending to come from Simon Leiman <Simon.Leiman@ rbs .com> the name of sender at RBS appears to be random and can be any name is another one from the current zbot runs which try to drop cryptolocker, ransomware and loads of other malware on your computer. They are using email addresses and subjects that will entice a user to read the email and open the attachment... No attachment in the email but a link to a compromised website to download the malware:
RE: Important Documents
[RBS Logo Image]
Building tomorrow
RE: Important Information
We’re letting you know we have received a request from your bank to complete and sign the attached documents.
To view/download the documents please click here.
Please fill out the documents and fax them at +44 131 242 0017
Simon Leiman
Senior Accounting Manager
Tel. +44 131 242 0017
Email: Simon.Leiman@ rbs .com
? Royal Bank of Scotland 2014 ...
3 September 2014: AccountDocuments.zip ( 12kb) : Extracts to AccountDocuments.scr
Current Virus total detections: 4/54* . This 'RE: Important Documents' is another one of the spoofed icon files that unless you have “show known file extensions enabled“, will look like a proper PDF file instead of the .exe file it really is, so making it much more likely for you to accidentally open it and be infected..."
* https://www.virustot...c0822/analysis/
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iCloud hack/leak now being used as Social Engineering lure
- http://blog.trendmic...gineering-lure/
Sep 3, 2014 - "... it was certainly only a matter of time before some enterprising cybercriminal decided that things were ripe for leveraging with socially-engineered threats. And that’s just what happened, as our scanning brought to our attention some freshly-concocted schemes targeting those looking for the photos borne from the aforementioned leak. The first threat we found hails from Twitter, in the form of a tweet being posted with hashtags that contain the name of one of the leak’s -victims- Jennifer Lawrence. The tweet spots a shortened link that, if -clicked- leads the user to a website offering a video of the actress in question...
Tweet with malicious link:
> http://blog.trendmic...wrencetweet.png
Website with offered video:
> http://blog.trendmic...encewebsite.png
If the user goes on to engage the playback, they are instead redirected to a download page for a ‘video converter’. The downloaded file is detected as ADW_BRANTALL:
> http://blog.trendmic...eoconverter.png
Besides this bait-and-switch maneuver, this particular threat also spread itself on Facebook by forcing users to share the malicious site on their profiles before they are given the ability to ‘play’ the offered video. This would result in the user’s wall being spammed with the link, as well as the download of another variant of ADW_BRANTALL. The spamming is shown below.
> http://blog.trendmic...acebookwall.png
Of course, in both cases, the user does not get to watch any video at all. And from our analysis, it appears that the majority of the users affected by this are from the United States (70%). We also discovered several malicious files floating around the internet that have been relabeled as zipped archives and/or video files of the leaked pictures in question. Again, we believe these files as part of a cybercriminal scheme to target those looking for the pictures themselves... With this incident in mind, it’s a good time to remind users that all popular news events – the iCloud leak being a prime example of it – will always have cybercriminals taking advantage of it in one way or another. If it’s something that you’ll use a search engine for, there’s a good chance that they’ve already created threats for it that will jump on you the moment you go looking. And do note that the threats we’ve talked about above are not the only ones lying around in wait! Always get your online news from trusted websites, and refrain from looking for/and downloading illegal material (such as leaked private photos or cracked software). Look into installing a security solution as well, if you haven’t done so already in these turbulent times. A few fleeting moments of convenience or enjoyment is never worth the hassle."
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'Infrastructure-configuration' adjustment
- http://www.reuters.c...N0GY2EQ20140903
Sep 3, 2014 - "Facebook Inc went down briefly for an unknown number of U.S. users on Wednesday afternoon in what appeared to be the latest outage to affect the world's largest social network. Several users had earlier reported getting an error message, "unable to connect to the Internet" when attempting to sign in. Facebook said the log-in problems arose after what it called an infrastructure-configuration adjustment..."
Edited by AplusWebMaster, 03 September 2014 - 08:12 PM.