email

Heads up from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center.

Friendly spam carries Zbot
This morning I spotted a few messages from my mobile carrier in my email inbox. This was not surprising as, only a few hours prior, I had logged into the carrier’s website to pay the monthly bill. The standard mode of operation for my provider is to receive a bill via email, and a confirmation message after paying the bill, also through email.

Today, however, one message stood out in several ways. First, the subject line was quite varied from what I was expecting to see:

Important Account Information from Verizon Wireless TRACK-ID: 15730301098

At this time, there is limited detection among vendors – we identify it as PWS:Win32/Zbot.gen!Y.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2011/12/06/friendly-spam-carries-zbot.aspx

Careful out there.

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“AOL Administration Center” spam comes from a spoofed email address this is a classic example of Canadian Pharmacy spam.

Full text of the bogus email, the # in the subject line changes.

From: “AOL Administration Center (R)”
To:
Subject: AOL Administration Center Notification #73916

Hi,
You have 1 notification (#73916) from AOL Administration Center
Please follow the instructions to continue.
Thanks,
The AOL Mail Team

Click here to opt out of receiving future promotional e-mail messages from AOL or go to AOL Keyword:
Email Preferences and unsubscribe. This screen name cannot respond to replies.

Click here for other Important Information about Commercial E-mail from AOL or visit http://about.aol.com/email_information.
AOL Email, PO Box 65627, Sterling, VA 20165-8805.

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“UNIFORM TRAFFIC TICKET” spam has been around awhile and continues to do the rounds. The email has an attached file which contains a malicious Trojan horse.
http://garwarner.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-york-city-uniform-traffic-ticket.html

Full text of the bogus email, the ID # in the subject line changes.

Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:42:23 +0530
From: “N.Y. State Department of Motor Vehicles”
To:
Subject: UNIFORM TRAFFIC TICKET (ID:89254305)

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles

UNIFORM TRAFFIC TICKET (ID:50385056),

POLICE AGENCY
NEW YORK STATE POLICE
Local Police Code 5278

THE PERSON DESCRIBED ABOVE IS CHARGED AS FOLLOWS

Time: 7:25 AM
Date of Offense: 10/10/2011
IN VIOLATION OF NYS V AND T LAW

9690 Description of Violation
SPEED OVER 55 ZONE
TO PLEAD, PRINT OUT THE ENCLOSED TICKET AND SEND IT TO TOWN COURT, CHATAM HALL., PO BOX 117

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Rejected Federal Tax Transaction Scam

by certifiedbug on October 4, 2011

in Internet Security

A malicious scam which continues to do the rounds with three caught by my spam filter, the transaction ID changes.

How does IRS e-file work?A. You or your tax professional, prepare your tax return. In many cases, the tax professional is also the Electronic Return Originator (ERO) who is authorized to file your return electronically to the IRS. Ask your tax professional to file your return through IRS e-file.You sign your electronic tax return by either using a Self-Select PIN for e-file for a completely paperless return, or by signing Form 8453, US. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return.See ” If the return is electronic, how do I sign it?” for more information.After you sign the return using a Self-Select PIN or Form 8453,the ERO transmits the return to the IRS or to a third-party transmitter who then forwards the entire electronic record to the IRS for processing. Once received at the IRS, the return is automatically checked by computers for errors and missing information. If it cannot be processed, it is sent back to the originating transmitter (usually the ERO) to clarify any necessary information. After correction, the transmitter retransmits the return to the IRS. Within 48 hours of electronically sending your return to IRS, the IRS sends an acknowledgment to the transmitter stating the return is accepted for processing. This is your proof of filing and assurance that the IRS has your return information. The Authorized IRS e-file Provider then sends Form 8453 to the IRS.If due a refund, you can expect to receive it in approximately three weeks from the acknowledgment date – even faster with Direct Deposit (half the time as when filed on paper). If you owe tax, see “What if I owe Money?” for payment options available this year.

Internal Revenue Service,
Metro Plex 1,
8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 300,
Landover, MD 20785

Forbes. 6/23/2011
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2011/06/23/tax-scams-making-the-rounds-again/

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Ach ‘payment canceled’ spam

by certifiedbug on September 28, 2011

in Internet Security

Resurgence of malicious ACH spam, the digit number changes randomly from email to email.

Keep your anti-virus application up-to-date and if the spam does arrive in the email box don’t click on links within or open any attachment.

The bad guys goal is to install a Zbot variant of a password stealing Trojan that also contains back door functionality. In other words the criminal gains unauthorized access and control of the infected computer.

Reference:
http://garwarner.blogspot.com/2011/05/ach-spammer-switches-to-shortened-urls.html

http://labs.m86security.com/tag/malicious-spam/

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NYC “Uniform Traffic Ticket” tops spammed malware

August 17, 2011

GarWarner Email attachments that contain malicious code are still being used to infect computers and steal the data found on those computers. While it is easy to find people who discount this threat, believing no one would be foolish enough to open one of these email attachments, the criminals are working hard to make their [...]

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Hotmail phishing scam

August 10, 2011

The Windows Blog By Dick Craddock I will NEVER ask for your password There are a lot of bad things on the Internet, and few are worse than phishing scams. But there is a certain class of phishing scam that has earned a special level of disdain and disgust, at least from me. I’m talking [...]

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Australia National Lottery 419

June 21, 2011

This old scam is still making the rounds looking for victims, one arrived in my mailbox. If you receive a similar email please do not respond to the scammer, just delete. http://www.419baiter.com/_scam_emails/lotto_scams/australia-national-lottery-fake-lotto-scam.html http://certifiedbug.com/blog/2006/12/29/consumeraffairs-top-10-scams-of-2006/

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Spam by any other name

June 20, 2011

Two times now. No. http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/na-d.marketo.com

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Fake Parcel Service notification a spammed malware attack

June 9, 2011

I haven’t received one of these in the mail box myself, not yet anyway. Graham Cluley’s post at his naked security blog. Outbreak: United Parcel Service notification malware attack spammed out Cybercriminals are attempting to infect computers around the world, disguising their attack as an email claiming to come from United Parcel Service about a [...]

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Epsilon Breach

April 5, 2011

No April Fools Day joke, on Friday Dallas based on-line marketing firm Epsilon said that its system had been breached. Epsilon Notifies Clients of Unauthorized Entry into Email System IRVING, TEXAS – April 1, 2011 – On March 30th, an incident was detected where a subset* of Epsilon clients’ customer data were exposed by an [...]

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