Walls Fargo spam / WellsFargo - Important Documents.zip

This fake Wells Fargo spam has a malicious attachment:

Date:      Mon, 16 Sep 2013 09:26:51 -0500 [10:26:51 EDT]
From:      Harrison_Walsh@wellsfargo.com
Subject:      IMPORTANT Documents - WellsFargo

Please review attached documents.

Harrison_Walsh
Wells Fargo Advisors
817-674-9414 office
817-593-0721 cell Harrison_Walsh@wellsfargo.com

Investments in securities and insurance products are:
NOT FDIC-INSURED/NO BANK-GUARANTEES/MAY LOSE VALUE

Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC is a nonbank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company, Member
FINRA/SIPC. 1 North Jefferson, St. Louis, MO 63103

CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: The contents of this message, including any attachments, are
confidential and are intended solely for the use of the person or entity to whom the
message was addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please be
advised that any dissemination, distribution, or use of the contents of this message is
strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender.
Please also permanently delete all copies of the original message and any attached
documentation. Thank you. 

Attached is a ZIP file called WellsFargo - Important Documents.zip which in turn contains a malicious executable WellsFargo - Important Documents.exe which has a very low VirusTotal rate of 2/47.

Automated analysis tools [1] [2] [3] detect network traffic to [donotclick]www.c3dsolutions.com  hosted on 173.229.1.89 (5Nines LLC, US). At present I do not have any evidence of further malware sites on that server.

Alanco Technologies Inc (ALAN) pump-and-dump spam run

Alanco Technologies Inc is an Arizona-based firm found in 1969 that used to be active in several technology markets, but over recent years it has divested itself of those assets and its primary business activities are now in the business of waste water disposal. The company does not make a profit (and indeed in some recent years made no direct income whatsoever). The bulk of its financial assets are tied up in a company called ORBCOMM. Alanco categorises itself as a high risk venture (see page 4 of this filing). Although the market capitlisation is $3.2m, the value of the enterprise itself is just $1.4m.

There are no apparent newsworthy events going on with this firm, however starting after the close of trading on Friday 13th September, a large scale pump-and-dump spam run started to promote the stock. There have been several other recent pump-and-dump spam runs similar to this, pushed out by the Kelihos botnet on behalf of parties unknown.

The stock price of ALAN has not done well over the past 12 months:

Share trading is sporadic, but a recent sustained burst of share trading of around 96,000 shares pushed the price up from around $0.45 to $0.62, perhaps costing around $50,000 or so. Analysis of previous recent pump-and-dump spam runs indicates that this may well the the spammers themselves taking up a position in the company.

It's a characteristic of this type of pump-and-dump spam that the spam emails start almost immediately after trading closes, probably to try to persuade people to put in automated buys on Monday morning when the scammers will try to offload stock at an inflated price. Here are some of the spams being sent:

Subject: We release the Titan!
Was A Bust Today! This Company is Our Private Pick!!!

To buy: A_L A-N
Last Trade: $.6399
Company: ALANCO TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Target Price: $3.55
Trading Date: September, 16th

Our Watchlist was a WINNER! It Will Be Featured In The Wall Street
Journal Tomorrow.

Subject: We Were on The Money with This Stock
I would love it to fill in gap... I hope you own it!!!

Stock: A L A-N
At this time: $0.64
Company: ALANCO TECHNOLOGIES, INC
Long Term Target: $1.90
Date: Mon, Sep 16th, 2013

It Speaks For Itself. No Better Way To Kickstart This Week! CORRECTION!

Subject: Most Active
Online Trading Account!!! This Company Looks Ready To Bounce!

Stock Symbol: ALA_N
Currently traded: .6399
Company Name: ALANCO TECHNOLOGIES CORP
Target: $1.90
Trade Date: Mon, September 16th, 2013

It is going to make you happy smile!!! I hope you own it.

Subject: Your stock
This Stock Could Make A Huge Come Back! Small Cap Source.

Sym: AL_AN
Current Price: $.6399
Company: Alanco Technologies, Inc.
Long Term Target Price: $1.20
Trade Date: Sep 16th

Call your Broker Directly to Place an Order. It is Showing
signs of a break out!

Subject: It is Showing signs of a break out
Are you watching this? This stock is very fast becoming one of our
favourites!

Symbol traded: A L_AN
Latest Pricing: .6399
Company Name: ALANCO TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Short Term Target: 2.65
Trade Date: Mon, September 16th, 2013

This Company Shows Gains!!! It could be the next 10x winner!

Subject: This Company Could be Acquisition Target
IT IS CHEAP, IN BIG DEMAND, AND VERY PROFITABLE. If you like profits,
you need to buy this.

Symbol to buy: A LA N
Closed at: $0.64
Name: Alanco Technologies, Corp.
Target: $2.50
Trading Date: Monday, Sep 16th, 2013

More Momentum Coming!!! What an amazing day!!!

Subject: Just a few minutes left to buy it before the end of the day!
A New Bonus Technical Report Tomorrow @ the Market Open!!! Shocking
Discovery Revealed Tomorrow!

Stock Symbol: A_LA N
Latest Pricing: $0.6399
Company Name: ALANCO TECHNOLOGIES, CORP
Long Term Target: $3.80
Trading Date: September 16

Don`t Miss this Easy One. It is ready to explode in price and volume!!!

Subject: My new #1 pick!
This Stock Runs to Gain this Morning! We Want More! Details Inside!
This Company just released HUGE news!

To buy: A LA N
Today Price: $0.64
Name: Alanco Technologies, Corp
Target: 1.20
Date: Mon, September 16

Expect a new rally! This Company Moves Forward.

So.. just how do these pump-and-dump advertised stocks run? The answer is.. badly. Recently promoted stock MONK fell from around $0.23 to $0.047 (an 80% loss), BLDW has been rather flat overall going from $0.044 to $0.048 (a 9% increase), HAIR dropped from $0.36 to $0.0378 (a 90% loss) and NOST from $0.0074 to $0.0030 (a 59% loss). So if you are tempted to follow the spam and buy ALAN, then these recent figures would indicate that it's highly risky with a limited chance of reward.

citizensbank.com "Issue File I3774 Processed" spam

For some reason I'm seeing a lot of these EXE-in-ZIP attacks recently. Here's another one with a malicious attachment:

Date:      Fri, 13 Sep 2013 11:09:53 -0500 [12:09:53 EDT]
From:      "GISPROD@citizensbank.com" [GISPROD@citizensbank.com]
Subject:      Issue File I3774 Processed

Regarding Issue File 3774 - Total Issue Items # 36 Total Issue Amount $42,171.75 This
will confirm that your issue file has been processed. Please verify the information in
attached report; if you find there are discrepancies in what you believe your totals
should be and what we have reported, please contact the Reconciliation Department at
1-888-333-2909 Option # 3 between the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm ET not later than 24
hours after you receive this notice. *** Please note, this message was created on the RBS
FileGateway system ***

-----------------------------------------
Use of email is inherently insecure. Confidential information,
including account information, and personally identifiable
information, should not be transmitted via email, or email
attachment. In no event shall Citizens or any of its affiliates
accept any responsibility for the loss, use or misuse of any
information including confidential information, which is sent to
Citizens or its affiliates via email, or email attachment. Citizens
does not guarantee the accuracy of any email or email attachment,
that an email will be received by Citizens or that Citizens will
respond to any email. This email message is confidential and/or privileged. It is to be
used by the intended recipient only. Use of the information
contained in this email by anyone other than the intended recipient
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error,
please notify the sender immediately and promptly destroy any
record of this email.

There is a malicious attachment called issue_report_I3774.zip which in turn contains an executable file issue_report_I6576543219672.exe which has a detection rate of 12/47 at VirusTotal. Automated analysis [1] [2] [3] shows some of the mechanics of the malware, including network communications with wptutes.com on 74.221.210.124 (DME Hosting LLC, US).

Recent experience with this type of attack shows that when one domain on a sever is compromised, then they all are. If you want to block everything then the following domains appear to be on that server:

2ndry.com
bar-stool.info
electric-wheelchair.info
freeb4u.com
gov-l.net
hot-buys.org
hot-water.org
iconsumers.org
leather-handbags.info
storage-cabinets.info
thesafeconsumer.com
wptutes.com

QuickBooks spam / Invoice_20130912.zip

This fake QuickBooks spam has a malicious attachment:

Date:      Thu, 12 Sep 2013 20:29:17 +0200 [14:29:17 EDT]
From:      QuickBooks Invoice [auto-invoice@quickbooks.com]
Subject:      Important - Payment Overdue

Please find attached your invoices for the past months. Remit the payment by 09/16/2013 as outlines under our "Payment Terms" agreement.

Thank you for your business,

Sincerely,
Quentin Sprague

This e-mail has been sent from an automated system.  PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.

The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify your representative immediately and delete this message from your computer. Thank you. 

The attachment is Invoice_20130912.zip which in turn contains a malicious executable Invoice_20130912.exe (note the date is encoded into the filename). The detection rate at VirusTotal is just 3/46.

Automated analysis [1] [2] [3] [4] shows that amongst other things, the file attempt to communicate with the domain leightongriffiths.com on an apparently compromised server at 64.50.166.122 which has been seen before.

Given that there are now several domains serving malware on the same server [1] [2] it is probably safe to assume that all the domains on that server are malicious and should be blocked.

Recommended blocklist:
64.50.166.122
4-access.com
ashburnes.com
bevan-holdings.com
bevanholdings.com
biffberry.com
camelotdevelopments.com
cardiffpower.com
carterlaurenconstruction.com
celebrategoodtimes.com
churchgatetrading.com
ciderbrokers.com
creativehomeworker.com
dcmsservices.com
deserve.org.uk
dignifiedcelebrations.com
doaus.com
drippingstrawberry.com
eflengineering.com
fruityblue.com
goldhaven.co.uk
gwentpressurewashers.co.uk
gwentpressurewashers.com
gympiper.info
haveyougotone.com
ivelostmymarbles.com
janglesmacrame.com
joannehawkins.com
justnoodles.co.uk
kinggems.com
kingmarbles.com
kwaggle.com
leightongriffiths.com
leisuremaintenanceltd.com
lmpropertyinvestments.com
macaraya.com
manorbrick.com
manorbrickyards.co.uk
marbledelights.com
marbleicious.com
motorhomeparadise.com
mykidbrother.com
mypersonalname.co.uk
mywebsitegroup.com
newportairport.co.uk
pnoa.co.uk
properteye.com
rockthecasbah.eu
rpduk.com
squaremileinsurance.com
steveperrott.com
talonstamed.com
thedrippingstrawberry.com
theitalianjob.mobi
thisisyourwife.co.uk
zestimports.com

USPS spam / Label_FOHWXR30ZZ0LNB1.zip

This fake USPS spam has a malicious attachment:

Date:      Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:19:05 -0500 [12:19:05 EDT]
From:      USPS Express Services [service-notification@usps.com]
Subject:      USPS - Missed package delivery
Priority:      High Priority 1 (High)

Notification

Our company's courier couldn't make the delivery of package.

REASON: Postal code contains an error.
LOCATION OF YOUR PARCEL: New York
DELIVERY STATUS: Sort Order
SERVICE: One-day Shipping
NUMBER OF YOUR PARCEL: UGLFOHWXR30ZZ0LNB1
FEATURES: No

Label is enclosed to the letter.
Print a label and show it at your post office.

An additional information:

You can find the information about the procedure and conditions of parcels keeping in the nearest office.

Thank you for using our services.
USPS Global.

*** This is an automatically generated email, please do not reply ***

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
This electronic mail transmission and any attached files contain information intended for the exclusive use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and may contain information belonging to the sender (USPS , Inc.) that is proprietary, privileged, confidential and/or protected from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any viewing, copying, disclosure or distributions of this electronic message are violations of federal law. Please notify the sender of any unintended recipients and delete the original message without making any copies.  Thank You

There is an attachment Label_FOHWXR30ZZ0LNB1.zip which in turn contains an executable Label_368_09112013_JDSL.exe which has a very low detection rate at VirusTotal of just 2/47. Automated analysis [1] [2] [3] shows an attempted connection to a hijacked domain drippingstrawberry.com hosted on 64.50.166.122 (LunarPages, US) with quite a lot of other hijacked domains. Blocking or monitoring traffic to this IP could stop the infection

URLquery shows the following domains are distributing malware on that server:
cardiffpower.com
celebrategoodtimes.com
drippingstrawberry.com
thisisyourwife.co.uk

For the record, the following domains appear to be on that server. They all look legitimate, but some others may be hijacked (and others may not be). Do with this list what you will:
4-access.com
ashburnes.com
bevan-holdings.com
bevanholdings.com
biffberry.com
camelotdevelopments.com
cardiffpower.com
carterlaurenconstruction.com
celebrategoodtimes.com
churchgatetrading.com
ciderbrokers.com
creativehomeworker.com
dcmsservices.com
deserve.org.uk
dignifiedcelebrations.com
doaus.com
drippingstrawberry.com
eflengineering.com
fruityblue.com
goldhaven.co.uk
gwentpressurewashers.co.uk
gwentpressurewashers.com
gympiper.info
haveyougotone.com
ivelostmymarbles.com
janglesmacrame.com
joannehawkins.com
justnoodles.co.uk
kinggems.com
kingmarbles.com
kwaggle.com
leightongriffiths.com
leisuremaintenanceltd.com
lmpropertyinvestments.com
macaraya.com
manorbrick.com
manorbrickyards.co.uk
marbledelights.com
marbleicious.com
motorhomeparadise.com
mykidbrother.com
mypersonalname.co.uk
mywebsitegroup.com
newportairport.co.uk
pnoa.co.uk
properteye.com
rockthecasbah.eu
rpduk.com
squaremileinsurance.com
steveperrott.com
talonstamed.com
thedrippingstrawberry.com
theitalianjob.mobi
thisisyourwife.co.uk
zestimports.com

UPDATE
This is an alternative version with the same payload: 
Date:      Wed, 11 Sep 2013 14:54:14 -0600 [16:54:14 EDT]
From:      Xerox WorkCentre
Subject:      Scanned Image from a Xerox WorkCentre

Please open the attached document. It was scanned and sent to you using a Xerox WorkCentre Pro.

Sent by: spamcop.net
Number of Images: 5
Attachment File Type: ZIP [PDF]

WorkCentre Pro Location: Machine location not set
Device Name: 07PR24RHFD

Attached file is scanned image in PDF format.
Adobe(R)Reader(R) can be downloaded from the following URL: http://www.adobe.com/

Attachment is Scan_883_00286191_7159.zip which expands to scanned_doc_091113.exe

Are top porn sites still riddled with malware?

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