FBI says you’ve been visiting illegal websites? It’s a malware attack

Cybercriminals have spammed out a malicious attack, posing as a notification from the FBI that you have been visiting illegal websites.

A typical message reads as follows:

Subject: You visit illegal websites
Attached file: Document.zip

Message body:
Sir/Madam, we have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal Websites. Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.

If you make the mistake of running the program in the attached ZIP file, you’ll find that your computer is hit with a fake anti-virus attack – designed to scare you into handing over your credit card details.

Sophos products intercept the email messages as spam, and also detect the attachment as…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

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.