Western Union money transfer email disguises Trojan attack

If you’re clued-up about computer security, it’s unlikely that you would fall for this scam. However, there are plenty of people who haven’t learnt to be suspicious of unsolicited emails and wouldn’t think twice about opening an attachment if they believe they’ve been sent some money via Western Union.

You can imagine how people might be especially vulnerable if they were overseas and expecting some money to be wired to them from relatives back at home.

Here is an example of one of the many malicious emails that has been spammed around the world today:

Subject:

Money Transfer Information

Message body:

ATTENTION!
DEAR CONSUMER , You have received a remittance, more information about the money transfer is in the attached file.
Money Order can be cashed at any branch or bank in Your city
Sincerely , Westernunion

As you can see by the following…

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, Bluesky, or drop him an email.