Fake Groupon discount emails carry malware

GrouponCybercriminals have spammed out malware, attached to emails claiming to be related to discounts for offers on Groupon.

The emails, which have the poorly spelt subject line of “Groupon dicount gifts” (in itself something which should ring alarm bells), pretend to come from Groupon, and claim that one of your friends has found a deal on the website.

The website says that your friend has decided to share the deal with you, and that you are receiving a discount code as a result.

Part of the email reads:

Hi there!
You're going to love it
We are glad to inform you that one of your friends has found a great deal on Groupon.com!
And even shared it with you!

Yeah! Now Groupon.com gives an opportunity to share a discount gift with a friend!
Enjoy your discount gift in the attachement and share it with one of your friend as well.

All the details in the file attached. be in a hurry this weekend special is due in 2 days!

Attached to the emails is a file called Gift coupon.zip, which contains a Trojan horse designed to infect Windows computers.

Sophos products detect the malware as Troj/Bredo-ABB and Mal/BredoZp-B.

As always, keep your anti-virus up-to-date and your wits about you. It’s easy for anyone to make a professional-looking email using the branding of a well-established website in their attempt to lure you into opening an attached file or clicking on a dangerous web link.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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