Alex Shafts, CEO / World Wide Domain Names Part II

Yesterday's "Alex Shafts" spam run is the most bizarre I have seen in a long time, and clearly has been quite widespread given the hundreds of visitors who have come to this blog.

1. Spammer appears to have lost his home, so presumably is in financial trouble. That sucks, times are certainly hard for a lot of people.. often through no fault of their own.
2. Spammer discovers affiliate marketing. Done right, this can make you a lot of money.. assuming that you do it right.
3. Spammer decides that LunarPages web hosting affiliate program looks good.
   
4. Spammer rents a server, a mailing list and writes some ad copy. I can quite believe that the spammer bought the mailing list in good faith - often scraped email addresses are mis-sold as opt-in addresses.
5. Now things start to go awry - the spammer's email is not CAN-SPAM compliant. The subject line is deceptive (it is "Notice Regarding Your DOMAIN NAME", the spam is about hosting). There is no physical address on the email, and no opt-out mechanism.
   
6. On the plus side, the spammer is not hiding his identity, and the spamvertised domain of worldswidedomainname.com has what appears to be vaguely valid contact details (although the house currently appears to be empty).
   
7. Now for the REALLY stupid part - the spammer has set up a mailing list to distribute the spam, but there are no restrictions on who can send to it. So when some addresses start to auto-respond, those responses are then re-spammed out to everyone on the list. I have seen dozens of these, but I think that my spam filter has kept out a LOT more.
8. Spammer's affiliate account, hosting and even Yahoo! email address gets nuked from orbit. Kudos to LunarPages and IX Web Hosting for their prompt action.
9. Who knows what will happen next? A LOT of people are really angry about the email storm that this has generated. Some may even take legal action.
   

There's another interesting blog entry about this at Skillett.com which expands on the story some.

So here's the scorecard for this particular bit of affiliate marketing:

• Keeping within the Terms of Service for your affiliate program: FAIL
• Keeping within the Terms of Service for your web host: FAIL
• Technical expertise: FAIL
• Legal compliance: FAIL
• Income generation: FAIL
• OVERALL: FAIL
  

Now if only Ecommerce corporation could shut down the spam coming through 98.130.1.155 then everyone else would have a WIN. As of about 0500 GMT the darned stuff is still coming through..

Alex Shafts, CEO / World Wide Domain Names / LunarPages spam

There's more to this spam than meets the eye.. and be certain that it IS spam and isn't any kind of communication from your domain name registrar:

---

Subject: Notice Regarding Your DOMAIN NAME
From: "Domain Name Support"
Date: Tue, October 28, 2008 5:16 am
To: info@worldswidedomainname.com


*****************************************
Important Notice Regarding Your Domain Name(s)
*****************************************

Dear Webmaster,

According to our records you are the ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT.

We would like to inform you we have partnered up with LunarPages Web Hosting. We understand you are currently hosting with another provider. But we encourage you to try out LunarPages. LunarPages also has an affiliation program where you can embed banners on your website and earn $65 for every referral.

A little more information about LunarPages; Lunarpages Web Hosting was born from Add2Net in 2000, and has grown rapidly providing Shared Hosting, Dedicated, Reseller, and most recently, VPS Hosting Plans. LunarPages is BBB Accredited and is rated A for excellence. LunarPages also has received many Industry Awards including Web Host Magazines highest level of recommendation. LunarPages is one of the fewest hosting services that provide unlimited transfer and unlimited data storage.

LunarPages can fit your business needs whether you’re a small business or a large company. Join (or lurk about) Community Forums and ask our customers why they host with LunarPages. For more in depth information, news and articles about Web Hosting, Marketing, SEO, Traffic, AdWords, Design, Networking and General Fluff, visit Lunartics Blog (updated daily, sometimes hourly). Our BlogStars consist of a team of more than 20+ industry experts. You may learn something, or simply be entertained.

VISIT LUNARPAGES

If you’re not ready to give LunarPages “Web Hosting” a try just yet, TRY the affiliation program where you can earn hundreds or even thousands a month. Save this email for your records and click the link above for special promos throughout the year.

Best Regards,

Alex Shafts, CEO

World Wide Domain Names

If you are the domain administrator of more than one domain account, you may receive this notice multiple times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

All rights reserved.

---

Who the heck is Alex Shafts? And who are "World Wide Domain Names"? Certainly nobody I do business with. So let's see who is sending this first of all. A look at the mail headers will be interesting:

X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.4 (2008-01-01) on blade2.cesmail.net
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: hits=0.9 tests=HTML_MESSAGE,URIBL_RHS_DOB version=3.2.4
Received: from unknown (192.168.1.88)
by blade2.cesmail.net with QMQP; 28 Oct 2008 05:27:00 -0000
Received: from mail500.opentransfer.com (98.130.1.155)
by ********** with SMTP; 28 Oct 2008 05:27:04 -0000
Received: (qmail 624 invoked by uid 399); 28 Oct 2008 05:16:47 -0000
Mailing-List: contact info-help@worldswidedomainname.com; run by ezmlm
Precedence: bulk
X-No-Archive: yes
List-Post:
List-Help:
List-Unsubscribe:
List-Subscribe:
Delivered-To: mailing list info@worldswidedomainname.com
Received: (qmail 618 invoked by uid 399); 28 Oct 2008 05:16:47 -0000
X-Originating-IP: 68.230.241.45
Received-SPF: none (mail500.opentransfer.com: domain at worldswidedomainname.com does not designate permitted sender hosts)
identity=mailfrom; client-ip=68.230.241.45;
envelope-from=;
X-Authority-Analysis: v=1.0 c=1 a=J2IRbVyBMHeSdsxzcmgA:9
a=21DexejRGg20G2OFDxsA:7 a=V6NLHKsM1nmveCJf-9nhvT6W67oA:4 a=htsp1cwEuSoA:10
a=6-9Fr_h7AAAA:8 a=Vm2oXCpbAAAA:8 a=n4JkmEeXAAAA:8 a=W_LaJHSTY1FKiyaM68cA:9
a=aa2LJqmKak3HsCtWz3EA:7 a=2hL6MRTsiU3c-Xv2ucuIwzcZna0A:4 a=ojskhZjZVJUA:10
a=pM-imOxlMqoA:10 a=fd-QgsGfzTIA:10 a=AfD3MYMu9mQA:10
X-CM-Score: 0.00
Message-ID: <802858ce0ad3496e988f0c3c39bc0060@alex>
From: "Domain Name Support"
To:
Subject: Notice Regarding Your DOMAIN NAME
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:16:39 -0400

The originating IP address is 68.230.241.45 which is Cox Communications.. but we also have a domain name of worldswidedomainname.com. The WHOIS details for that domain match the sender's name:

Registrant:
Alex Shafts
504 LEONARD AV
Las Vegas, NV 89106
US

Domain name: WORLDSWIDEDOMAINNAME.COM

Administrative Contact:
Shafts, Alex worldsdomainnames@yahoo.com
504 LEONARD AV
Las Vegas, NV 89106
US
702.5431469
Technical Contact:
Shafts, Alex worldsdomainnames@yahoo.com
504 LEONARD AV
Las Vegas, NV 89106
US
702.5431469

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 24-Oct-2008.
Record expires on 25-Oct-2009.
Record created on 25-Oct-2008.

This domain is just a couple of days old which sets the alarm bells ringing. A Google search for "504 Leonard Av" comes up with a couple of YouTube videos [1, 2]. It turns out to be a foreclosure sale, OK that really sucks for Mr Shafts but it is no excuse to sent out spam.

So, what is this spam trying to get you to do? Is it important? Nope. It's actually just spam for the LunarPages affiliate program. Web hosting affiliate programs can be big earners - in this case LunarPages pay $65 per sign-up. Not bad, but all this email is trying to do is get you to sign up for web hosting. It is in no way an official notice from your registrar.

We know that desperate situations lead to desperate actions, but sending out spam and what is basically deceptive advertising is not going to help.

Added: just to prove himself a bigger idiot, the mailing list that he created to send out the spam ALSO accepts email from absolutely anyone so now there's a real shitstorm of comments, autoreplies and bouncebacks. What a plonker.

Added: check out the comments to this post, also this blog entry has more details. I have made a follow-up entry here explaining the problem in more detail.

"Ferrasano Ferrosan" scam email

Another scam job offer, this time it looks like money laundering. The email is perhaps unintentionally funny, and has a few new social engineering twists.

Subject: Internet Brings a Job Position that Changes Peoples Lives!

Err yeah, money laundering can lead to a prison sentence for the hapless money mule.

Greetings to Everyone in UK! You Have a Lifetime Opportunity to Start making up to 700 GBP per Week, Getting Paid Daily!

Wow.. *everyone* in the UK? That's some spam run.

Successful company from Norway - Ferrasano Ferrosan Group, Offers an Outstanding Job Position!

Googling for "Ferrasano Ferrosan" brought up exactly zero hits.. except for this post in a few minutes (probably).

This Is a Real Genuine Offer That You've Never Seen before, that Gives You Financial Freedom.

Of course, it isn't a "real genuine offer" at all. It's a scam.

Please Take Couple Minutes to Discover This Amazing Opportunity That Will Change Your Life.

But not change it is a GOOD way.

You Are Being Offered an Outstanding Job Position Called "Fund Operator"!

i.e. a money mule.

Here are Few Requirements Before You Apply:

1. This Offer is for United Kingdom/Great Britain Only.
2. You Have to Have 2-3 hours of spare Time Monday-Friday.
3. You Have to be Enthusiastic About It and Be Able to Provide Us With Best Service.
4. No Past Experience Required/ No School Degree Required!
5. Be Able to Check E-mail 4-5 Times a Day and Stay in Touch With us Throughout the Day if Possible!

6. You need to be gullible.

Company Itself is Based in Norway, although Ferrosan is a worldwide health center that Distributes Businesses All Over the World and We Represent
our Norway Location, Fairly Young, but Successful Organization. With the Help of
Google Advertisements it Was Possible to Deliver This Message to You! Nowadays Internet Makes it Possible for Us to Interact on a Whole New Level.

Ferrosan is a genuine company, but it is based in Denmark. It was founded in 1919. "Google Advertisements"? This must be the upcoming "Google Spam (beta)" then.

Full Information About Position Will be Given in Full Package that You Can Request by E-mail, See Below How to Request Full Package.

I'll give that a miss, thanks.

Some References about Position:

Jeff Sparks states in "In Touch Weekly" magazine: "..Great Britain discovers great
opportunity from FF Group.."

Linda Abramke states in "Forbes" magazine: "..Internet simplifies communication and provides more opportunities..", talking about our job position.

Melissa Richardson states in "Cosmopolitan" magazine: "..New opportunity for single moms or students..", talking about simplicity and reliability of position.

These are all completely fake, of course, it's just another piece of social engineering. Sometimes 419 fraudsters uses references on CNN or the BBC to try to add credibility.

You Will be able to Start Working with Us within 24 hours After You Apply and be
able to Start Making Money Immediately! Anybody can Do It, so Don't Hesitate
and Feel Free to Request Full Information, as It will Change Your Life, you will not
Have to Worry About Finances Anymore!

That "change your life" thing again...

Asprox: 47mode.name, berjke.ru, 81dns.ru

There has been a shift overnight in the domains used in the Asprox SQL injection attack, the ones to look for are:

• 47mode.name
• berjke.ru
• 81dns.ru

Registration for the .ru domains looks like this:

domain: 81DNS.RU
type: CORPORATE
nserver: ns1.81dns.ru. 76.240.151.177
nserver: ns2.81dns.ru. 76.182.187.206
nserver: ns3.81dns.ru. 69.62.229.141
state: REGISTERED, DELEGATED
person: Private Person
phone: +3 212 7721130
fax-no: +3 212 7721130
e-mail: igorlsoloti@yahoo.com
registrar: NAUNET-REG-RIPN
created: 2008.10.23
paid-till: 2009.10.23
source: TC-RIPN

47mode.name is different:

Registration Service Provided By: RESELL.BIZ
Contact: +1.3124476810
Website: http://Resell.biz

Domain Name: 47MODE.NAME

Registrant:
Kimberly Maupin
Kimberly Maupin (pampaser@socialworker.net)
136 Lawndale Lane
Sneads Ferry
North Carolina,28640
US
Tel. +5.9103818739

Creation Date: 21-Oct-2008
Expiration Date: 21-Oct-2009

Domain servers in listed order:
ns3.47mode.name
ns2.47mode.name
ns1.47mode.name

Administrative Contact:
Kimberly Maupin
Kimberly Maupin (pampaser@socialworker.net)
136 Lawndale Lane
Sneads Ferry
North Carolina,28640
US
Tel. +5.9103818739

Technical Contact:
Kimberly Maupin
Kimberly Maupin (pampaser@socialworker.net)
136 Lawndale Lane
Sneads Ferry
North Carolina,28640
US
Tel. +5.9103818739

Billing Contact:
Kimberly Maupin
Kimberly Maupin (pampaser@socialworker.net)
136 Lawndale Lane
Sneads Ferry
North Carolina,28640
US
Tel. +5.9103818739

Status:ACTIVE

It looks like "Kimberly Maupin" might well be a real person living in Sneads Ferry, who's identity has been "borrowed". However, the ZIP code is incorrect and the telephone number appears to be in Bolivia.

Anyway, block these domains or check your logs for them.

MS08-067

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 – Critical: Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (958644)

Let's make it simple: PATCH NOW. Microsoft's say that this can spread from machine to machine without authentication, and reliable exploit code is likely. This makes it the ideal security flaw to hook a worm onto, like Blaster or Sasser.

If you're a corporate user with a firewall DO NOT imagine that the firewall will offer you much in the way of protection. Eventually either a worm-infected laptop will be plugged into your internal network, or possibly a infected machine may breach the firewall when it connects through the VPN. If there is a widespread outbreak and you're not prepared, then shutting off your VPN may buy you some time.

"WorldPay CARD transaction Confirmation" / "Academic Resources Center Inc." trojan

This is a fake email message pretending to be from WorldPay relating to a payment to "Academic Resources Center Inc".

There's an attached ZIP file, The ZIP contains an EXE designed to look like a DOC.. but oddly with an icon that looks like Excel. Of course, this is actually a nasty trojan rather than a real document.

This is one good reason why you should not hide extensions for known file types on your PC - the icon on the left looks like it has the DOC extension, but only because the real EXE extension can been hidden and is revealed on the right.

VirusTotal indicates patchy detection rates including TrojanSpy:Win32/Zbot.gen!C, Trojan.Win32.FraudPack.gle, Trojan-Spy:W32/Zbot.VM, W32/Trojan3.DU, TROJ_FAKEALE.AI plus some generic heuristic detecions.

In this case, the ZIP is called WorldPay_CARD_Transaction_Confirmation_OrderNo76644.doc.zip and the EXE is WorldPay_CARD_Transaction_Confirmation_OrderNo76644.doc.exe but this may be randomly generated.

---

Subject: WorldPay CARD transaction Confirmation
From: "Jana Rivera"

Thank you!Your transaction has been processed by WorldPay, on behalf ofAcademic
Resources Center Inc.
The invoice file is attached to this message.
This is not a tax receipt.
We processed your payment.
Academic Resources Center Inc has received your order,
and will inform you about delivery.
Sincerely,
The AcaDemon TeamEnquiries This confirmation only indicates that your transaction
has been processed successfully. It does not indicate that your order has been
accepted. It is the responsibility of Academic Resources Center Inc to confirm that
your order has been accepted, and to deliver any goods or services you have ordered.

If you have any questions about your order, please email Academic Resources Center
Inc at:followup@acade66Smicresourcescenter.com, with the transaction details listed
above.Thank you for shopping with Academic Resources Center Inc.

---

UPDATE 24/4/09: There's a similar spam run happening again, details are here.

"Better Business Bureaus Account Support" trojan

We have seen quite a lot of variants of this particular trojan recently, mostly aimed at banks. This one passes itself off as a some sort of digital certificate, but according to VirusTotal it is a trojan variously identified as TrojanDownloader:Win32/Suceret.gen!A, Win32.Stration, Trojan-Downloader.Win32.WebDown.10 and a number of other generic detections.

---

Subject: Better Business Bureaus, Attention: Don't leave mail in your mailbox.
From: "Better Business Bureaus Account Support"

Attention Better Business Bureaus Consumers!

We've enhanced web surfing process with new security measures to keep your online
data and personal information safer.
All registered and new BBB consumers must register new software and update contact
information until October 24, 2008.
Please read the following information carefully:

Register your BBB company certificate here>>>

As always, we appreciate your business. And thank you for working with us.

Sincerely, Ila Newell.
2008 Council of Better Business Bureaus

---

6700.cn browser hijack (bad), SUPERAntiSpyware (good)

I've just spent several days investigating a machine with a particularly nasty rootkit infection. Despite throwing several tools at it and rummaging around the hard disk, the rootkit remained. The most obvious sign was a browser hijack pointing at 6700.cn but there were dozens of malware components installed too.

The F-Secure online scanner and ComboFix removed quite a lot of the malware, but hats off to SUPERAntiSpyware which identified and removed the last, tricky part of the rootkit. I haven't come across this application before, but it is definitely worth a look and it has a free trial.

In retrospect, a lot of the rootkit is also plainly visible using Sysinternal Autoruns - the malware components tend to lack "Publisher" details and can be easily identified. You may well need to take the hard disk out and mount it in a USB drive on a second PC, but a word of caution - it is possible to infect the second PC too, so try to avoid using anything mission critical for the cleanup.

"Data request" trojan

Another EXE-in-ZIP-disguised-as-a-DOC trojan, similar to this one.

Subject: Data request
From: "Billy Roark"


Please find the document attached to this message. The report was issued today.
Requested account details have been altered successfully.

Thank you for contacting us.

Respectfully,
Billy

The attachment in this case is called Statement_January-October.zip and contains an executable named Statement_January-October.doc[44 spaces].exe. The blank spaces are designed to push the .exe part of the filename down so that it is invisible.

It is a different binary from yesterday with better detection rates. But the best cure for this is avoidance, and blocking EXEs-in-ZIPs is the best cure.

"Report Jan-Oct." trojan

This fake email contains an EXE in a ZIP designed to look like a Word document (complete with authentic looking icon), in this case "Statement1-10.doc .exe" (there are 75 spaces in the filename that blogger strips out)

Subject: [name] Report Jan-Oct.
From: "Clara Slaughter"

Dear Customer,

As you requested, we are sending you this report with details on your account
transactions made between 1/1/2008 and 10/1/2008.

At your service,
Clara

The attached ZIP file is called Statement1-10.zip. VirusTotal shows detection is poor with what look like generic detections only.

If you mail filter allows it, you should block EXEs in ZIP files. Postini allows this, I guess other filtering services do too.

"LV Electronics Inc." job offer scam

There are plenty of legitimate companies called "LV Electronics", but this job offer is not from one of them. In this case, the originating IP was 91.77.116.141 in Russia.

---

Subject: Job offer in the United States.

Greetings.

LV Electronics Inc. is searching for hardworking person, that will represent our
branch in local area.

The required country: UNITED STATES ONLY! (all states).

Prior experience is not necessary; entry level admin, customer service and good
people skills are all you need.
Perfect for anyone who wants to work from home and spend more time with their
family, or just make some extra money.
Be debt free fast making an additional $4,000-12,000 A MONTH!

WRITE US AND APPLY NOW: lvelectronicsinc@aol.com

---

Fake job offer: ias-jobs.org

One of a series of fake job offers that are doing the rounds, this time promoting a company called IAG ("Internet Auction Service"). It's most likely a money mule scam (i.e. money laundering), or package reshipping (handling stolen goods) or something similar. Avoid.

---

Subject: Current Vacancy at IAG

Internet Auction Service provides business support, retail distribution, franchise
operations,
direct sales, and a variety of auction as well as accounting and billing services.

We are currently recruiting for the positions of Virtual Office Assistants in the
United
Kingdom, part-time and full-time available. The positions focus on providing
administrative
assistance in online sales.

Part-time and full-time positions available:

Part-time: 3 hours per day during either one of these shifts:
9:00am-12:00pm 11:00am-2:00pm 12:00pm-3:00pm 2:00pm-5:00pm

Full Time: 6 hours per day during either one of these shifts:
9:00am-3:00pm 11:00am-5:00pm

Salary:

Part-time: 1,100GBP/month plus commission
Full-time: 2,200GBP/month plus commission

Professional Qualities:
- Customer focused decision maker
- Demonstrates a high level of personal accountability
- Thinks about the team first over personal agendas
- Learning adaptive
- Process driven

Basic Requirements for Virtual Office Assistant:
- Internet Access
- Microsoft Office
- Basic Accounting skills

If you are interested in this position please send us an email to
Jennifer.Edwards@ias-jobs.org
expressing your interest and we will forward you the detailed job description and
the agreement.

Best regards,
IAS Team

---

Unusually, the domain ias-jobs.org has been registered for these purposes. www.ias-jobs.org is hosted on 89.218.205.90 in Kazakhstan (again). Mail is handled by 12.192.82.225 in the US which is unusual. Nameservers are ns1.eurogolden.net (194.150.120.47) and ns2.eurogolden.net (62.157.74.89) which all tie into this scam. utl-jobs.com and korkdevelopers.com can also be tied into this.

As a general rule, you should always avoid job offers from companies that you cannot verify exist in real life.

Asprox: lang42.ru

Another Asprox SQL injection domain to block / check for is lang42.ru. The following domains have been active in the past 24 hours:

• 53refer.ru
• chk06.ru
• driver95.ru
• errghr.ru
• lang42.ru
• netcfg9.ru
• sitevgb.ru
• vrelel.ru

As I've said before, completely blocking access to .ru domains for most businesses would be a huge problem. Most .ru sites are in Russian, and if you don't use Russian in your business they you can probably live without them.

Asprox: new domains

After being stable for some time, the Asprox SQL injection hacks are now redirecting through a new bunch of .ru domains.

• 30area.ru
• 4log-in.ru
• 53refer.ru
• chk06.ru
• driver95.ru
• errghr.ru
• netcfg9.ru
• sitevgb.ru
• vrelel.ru

WHOIS details are:

domain: ERRGHR.RU
type: CORPORATE
nserver: ns2.errghr.ru. 68.6.180.109
nserver: ns3.errghr.ru. 68.12.194.192
nserver: ns1.errghr.ru. 199.126.149.144
state: REGISTERED, DELEGATED
person: Private Person
phone: +7 772 7727727
fax-no: +7 772 7727727
e-mail: retyi111@yahoo.com
registrar: NAUNET-REG-RIPN
created: 2008.10.09
paid-till: 2009.10.09
source: TC-RIPN

retyi111@yahoo.com has been used before for these domains and various other nasties. As usual, block these domains and/or check your logs for them.

What the heck is Win32/Puloagem.B?

I've had a few CA-Vet alerts for Win32/Puloagem.B recently, with pretty sparse information on what Puloagem actually is. If you're being plagued with this, then it's worth knowing that this is basically just a variant of Zlob and it's a variety of fake anti-virus software. In our case, the executable was named winrar.exe.

VirusTotal has a good list of aliases, so if you're struggling with it then you can use some of the other names as references.

"Habitats Property and Service Inc." fake employement offer

Another bogus employment offer, this time from "Habitats Property and Service Inc", but there appears to be no such firm.. although there are plenty of legitimate companies with similar names who are nothing to do with this. It is most likely a money mule scam or package reshipping, or something similar. Avoid.

Subject: Real Estate company is looking for employees. You was selected.

JOB OFFER FROM: Habitats Property and Service Inc.

Big international company is urgently looking for permanent representatives within the whole territory of the United Kingdom. We need people at the age of 21 to 70 for rather easy work on processing of the incoming orders and performancing of simple management duties.

You don’t need to be a specialized professional or to have special training. We also do not require the working experience in this field; all you need for this job are:

* ability to accurately follow the instructions on the solving the required tasks
* be a confident computer user
* ability to work with MS Word
* ability to work with MS Excel
* have permanent Internet access

This job suits students, mothers, pensioners and people who are looking for the part-time job perfectly well. You need only 2-3 spare hours during the day to fulfill your working duties.

All the candidates will be checked and selected on the competitive basis. To submit your application, please, send us your resume/CV to the following address:

cv08.habitats@googlemail.com

Your request will be considered within 24-48 hours.

Originating IP in this case was 217.15.186.77 in Kazakhstan.

FTC: Bank Failures, Mergers and Takeovers: A "Phish-erman's Special"

A timely warning from the FTC on the threat of criminals using the worldwide financial crisis to obtain banking details.. although as seen recently the payload could also be a trojan rather than a phishing attempt.

The FTC say:

If the recent changes in the financial marketplace have you confused, you’re not alone. The financial institution where you did business last week may have a new name today, and your checks and statements may come with a new look tomorrow. A new lender may have acquired your mortgage, and you could be mailing your payments to a new servicer. Procedures for the banking you do online also may have changed. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, the upheaval in the financial marketplace may spur scam artists to phish for your personal information.

They then go on to offer some excellent tips and examples of what to look out for. As I said before, it's worth warning any end-users you support of this risk because it would be relatively trivial to come up with a scam that looks very convincing indeed, and including a reference to the FTC warning might get at least some of them taking the threat seriously.

securityassurance@microsoft.com - "Security Update for OS Microsoft Windows"

A malicious EXE file is doing the rounds, pretending to be an update from Microsoft and including some social engineering such as a fake PGP signature. The payload is an executable called KB960312.exe. Detection rates are poor, but it's clearly some hideous piece of malware that you really don't want anywhere near your PC.

---

Subject: Security Update for OS Microsoft Windows
From: "Microsoft Official Update Center"

Dear Microsoft Customer,

Please notice that Microsoft company has recently issued a Security Update for OS
Microsoft Windows. The update applies to the following OS versions: Microsoft
Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Millenium, Microsoft Windows
XP, Microsoft Windows Vista.

Please notice, that present update applies to high-priority updates category. In
order to help protect your computer against security threats and performance
problems, we strongly recommend you to install this update.

Since public distribution of this Update through the official website
http://www.microsoft.com would have result in efficient creation of a malicious
software, we made a decision to issue an experimental private version of an update
for all Microsoft Windows OS users.

As your computer is set to receive notifications when new updates are available, you
have received this notice.

In order to start the update, please follow the step-by-step instruction:
1. Run the file, that you have received along with this message.
2. Carefully follow all the instructions you see on the screen.

If nothing changes after you have run the file, probably in the settings of your OS
you have an indication to run all the updates at a background routine. In that case,
at this point the upgrade of your OS will be finished.

We apologize for any inconvenience this back order may be causing you.


Thank you,

Steve Lipner
Director of Security Assurance
Microsoft Corp.


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP 7.1

3L0SDPQYESHKTVB7P898LE266163YL9LZQ6AU3LYK9JFM85HDX4S5FG0PEUY5HXP0
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-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Update: KB231660.exe has also been spotted with a different PGP signature, although securityassurance@microsoft.com remains the same. Also KB986008.exe, KB415282.exe, KB985274.exe, KB166277.exe .. probably a load more will be sent out over the next few hours.

Update 2: This has now been picked up by the folks at the ISC.

Citigroup/Wachovia "Security Certificates" trojan

These fake "security certificates" have been around for a while, but it has taken a little time for the Bad Guys to leverage the recent worldwide banking crisis. Expect to see a LOT more of these as more banks struggle or are taken over.

WACHOVIA CORPORATION NOTICE.

Citigroup announced a buyout of Wachovia brokered by the FDIC moments ago.
All Wachovia bank locations will be in the Citigroup merger to prevent failure of Wachovia.
The Citigroup/Wachovia would focus on upgrading banks' security certificates.
All Wachovia customers must fill the forms and complete installation of new Citigroup Standard digital signatures during 48 hours.
Please follow the installation steps below:

Read more here>>

Sincerely, Sophie Burkett.
2008 Wachovia Corporation.
All rights reserved.

The link goes to the insanely named domain commercial [dot] wachovia [dot] online [dot] financial [dot] service [dot] onlineupdate.iawyvy9gcv.bankonline.doexte.gbiexsse.com which is hosted on a fast-flux botnet. The target executable is InstallationPackWachovia.exe located in the root directory which triggers just a few heuristic scanners or generic detections according to VirusTotal.


If you work in IT in any kind of organisation, it is worth sending out a warning to end users to ensure that they are aware of these emails, either at work or at home. The current batch are not particularly credible, but the Bad Guys will probably keep working on their social engineering skills.

Fake "VM-Soft" job offer

VM-SOFT (www.vm-soft.com.ua) is a wholly legitimate Ukranian software developer, whose corporate identity is being used by a third party to perpetrate an apparent Money Mule scam, in an approach almost identical to this earlier fake email for another Ukranian company.

The email copies the name of the director, Viktor Marchenko, and even uses a very similar Gmail address (see the genuine contact page for the real one).

---

Hello Sir/Madam.


I Viktor Marchenko, I introduce VM-Soft specializes in innovative IT solutions and
complex software projects development.

My company based in Ukraine. We've earned ourselves a reputation of a reliable and
trustworthy partner working successfully with a number of West European companies
and providing them with reliable software development services in financial and
media sectors. Unfortunately we are currently facing some difficulties with
receiving payments for our services. It usually takes us 10-30 days to receive a
payment and clearing from your country and such delays are harmful to our business.
We do not have so much time to accept every wire transfer.


That's why we are currently looking for partners in your country to help us accept
and process these payments faster. If you are looking for a chance to make an
additional profit you can become our representative in your country. As our
representative you will receive 8% of every deal we conduct. Your job will be
accepting funds in the form of wire transfers and forwarding them to us. It is not a
full-time job, but rather a very convenient and fast way to receive additional
income. We also consider opening an office in your country in the nearest future and
you will then have certain privileges should you decide to apply for a full-time
job. Please if you are interested in transacting business with us we will be very
glad.


Please contact me for more information via email: offer.job.vmsoft.ua@gmail.com

and send us the following information about yourself:

Your Full Name as it appears on your resume.
Education.
Your Contact Address.
Telephone/Fax number.
Your present Occupation and Position currently held.
Your Age

Please respond and we will provide you with additional details on how you can become
our representative. Joining us and starting business today will cost you nothing and
you will be able to earn a bit of extra money fast and easy. Should you have any
questions, please feel free to contact us with all your questions.

Sincerely,
Viktor Marchenko ,
VM-Soft

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If you're not familiar with this type of scam, then basically it amounts to laundering stolen money.

One important tip usually is that legitimate companies tend not to use free email addresses, but in this case the genuine VM-SOFT does, instead of using its own vm-soft.com.ua domain which is not so helpful.

Increasingly, the scammers use names of genuine companies and even genuine directors. They may register domain names that look confusingly similar to the real thing, so sometimes the only concrete thing that you have to go on is common sense: if it looks too good to be true, then it probably isn't true.