Spammer’s blunder leads to widespread split personality malware attack

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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@gcluley

We’re seeing a widespread malware attack in our spam traps this morning – and what’s making it unusual is that it appears not to be able to decide what it is.

When you first see the subject line, you imagine it’s going to be another “undelivered parcel” attack:

United Parcel Service notification #49674

(the tracking number changes in each email)

And the fact that it uses an @ups.com email address doesn’t do anything to make you think it won’t be another addition to the long line of malware attacks that are spammed out pretending to come from the likes of UPS, FedEx or DHL.

Things get a little weird, however, when you look at the email’s content.

The message, embedded as an image inside the email, claims to come from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

It claims that there are “important changes in current regulations of endowment insurance procedure” that you should look through, and is signed – with “best regards”…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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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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