Scam

Following on from the latest Captcha techniques used by the W32/Koobface worm, it seems that the malware authors have turned to Santa for help to deliver it’s nasty surprise which awaits Facebook users. The infection drops other trojans such as FakeAlert and leaves the user renderless. It all begins with a post on a user’s Facebook Wall. If the user clicks on the link, they are presented with a fake video player with a Christmas greeting as shown below ...

Despite talk of Tiger Woods’ sponsors “limiting his role” in their advertising campaigns, he is still very much hot stuff when it comes to search engine queries which means he’s still a viable target for the malware writers. We can see that Tiger Woods related searches are still being poisoned with malicious results using Search Engine Optimisation techiques: This leads to the familiar: Which when downloaded installs fake AV branded as “Security Tool”. ...

Internet Security 2010, It’s a rebranded clone of Advanced Virus Remover, a rogue security product. It’s one of your run-of-the mill rogues, using run-of-the mill scare tactics, except its payment screen contains a static graphic that imitates the McAfee Secure certification. A real “McAfee Secure” certification is a DAILY certification, it contains the date and its logo should look like this: When you click on it, it should take you to the McAfee Secure rating verification page: https://www.mcafeesecure.com/RatingVerify that gives the name of the certified web site and the “Status”. ...

Lately, a Google work at home scam has been plastering its way throughout the Internet. The scam site is designed to look like a convincing news paper article and is currently circulating heavily through social networks (hacked and spam accounts) and ad networks. Example of the scam wall post on Facebook from a hacked account: The scam site: To “cash in on the opportunity” all you have to do is fork up a measly $1.95 for the “Easy Google Profit” kit. Unfortunately, if you fall for the scam, you’re going to be taken for more than what you bargained for. Ripoff Report shows one victims struggle with these scam artists. Aparently they automatically started charging the victim $39.98 per month on top of an additional $129.95 fee. On top of that, they enrolled him in a 14 day trial for another site, which charges $29.95 a month if not canceled in time. ...

Basically, the rogue antispy was directing the victim to a genuine Microsoft address, but was modifying the html on the fly as it came back from the real Microsoft page. It made it read that Microsoft was recommending that the victim should buy the rogue. That’s a pretty good trick that will catch a lot of folks, and it reminded us of another one that we frequently see. It works like this… The victim attempts to reach Microsoft, or receives a link like http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9480113 and if you go there on a normal computer, you see a page like this (click to enlarge)… ...

SafetyAntispyware is a new rogue anti-spyware application. However, the functionality follows the same pattern as other rogues. First, it will detect some fake infections. Then it will ask the user to license the product to remove these “threats”. It will also keep reminding the user about these fake infections and will urge the user to activate the software. For more information Click Here.

The SecurityTool rogue security product, which first turned up early in October, is still active and trying to avoid countermeasures by setting up 12-24 download sites per day. It comes in two flavors online scanner scam: and fake codec scam: For more information Click Here.

Email is still the most common method used for security update notifications from all major vendors, but it is also the most commonly used trigger for launching the chain of infection attacks by malware writers. When I came to work today I found in my Inbox a message from Microsoft with the Security Bulletin Advance Notification for December. I immediately clicked on one of the links to visit the yet to be published December Security Bulletin and investigate how many critical vulnerabilities will be fixed this month. ...

We recently alerted our readers to spam campaigns using the H1N1 vaccination program to prompt recipients to open the mail. And we have frequently mentioned that crooks love to take advantage of news, disasters, and other events. Now that the final draw for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next year has taken place, it is time to remind you that sports events are no exception to the rule. I’ve already found some examples. The first is a fake lottery. In this case, the source claims the recipient has won a large sum of money from the South African Football Association. After contacting the lottery manager, the victim of the scam will be asked to pay “processing fees” or “transfer charges” so that the winnings can be distributed. Don’t expect to ever see a payment. ...