ALERT!
Verified Nov. 14, 2008 The
newest virus circulating is the UPS Delivery Failure. You
will receive an email from UPS Packet Service along with
a packet number. NOTE: The word packet is mis-spelled on
this line. It will say that they were un-able to deliver
a package sent to you on such and such a date. It then asks
you to print out the invoice copy attached. DON'T TRY TO
PRINT THIS. IT LAUNCHES THE VIRUS! Pass this warning on
to all your PC operators at work and home. This virus has
caused Millions of dollars in damage in the past few days.
A complaint has been filled against you and the
company you are affiliated to by Mr. George
Hanson and sent to Federal Trade Comission by fax,in
witch he's claiming that he has been cheated by
you and your company in paying a greater ammount
of money than the one appearing on the invoice you
gave him for using your services.
The complaint states he contacted your company on
MON, 22 OCT 2007, trying to solve this
situation without interference from any Governmental
Institution , but your company refused to take action.
On WED, 24 OCT 2007, the complaint was sent by fax
to Federal Trade Commission and we forwarded it
to Internal Revenue Service and Better Business
Bureau.
Complaint was filled against :
Name :
Company :
If you feel that this message has been sent to you
in error or if you have any questions regarding
the next steps of this process, please download
the original complaint by clicking the link below
:
Please take knowledge of the complaint's content
and complete the form at the bottom of forward it
to fraudcomplaint@ftc.gov.
Bruce Jameson
Complaint Officer
Federal Trade Commission,Fraud Department
[Collected
via e-mail, December 2007]
Dear Mr. Smith,
A complaint has been filled against the company
you are affiliated to, in regards to the possibillity
of tax avoidance and money laundering schemes. The
complaint was filled by Mr. Benjamin
Kent on 12/14/2007 and contains refferences
that link your company and another 4 companies
in an attemt to gain illegal proffit.
Registration : #74366843
Date: 12/10/2007
A copy of the initial complaint and claims has been
attached to this e-mail. Please print
and keep this copy for your personal records. Disputes
involving consumer products and/or services may
be arbitrated. Unless they directly relate to the
contract that is the basis of this dispute, the
following claims will be considered for arbitration
only if all parties agree in writing that the arbitrator
may consider them:
Claims based on product liability;
Claims for personal injuries;
Claims that have been resolved by a previous court
action, arbitration, or written agreement between
the parties.
The decision as to whether your dispute or any part
of it can be arbitrated rests solely with the US
Department of Treasury.
The Department of Treasury offers a binding arbitration
service for disputes involving marketplace transactions.
Arbitration is a convenient, civilized way to settle
disputes quickly and fairly, without the costs associated
with other legal options.
Origins:
In October 2007, a virus circulated in an attachment to
an e-mail purporting to have come from the
Fraud Department of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or
the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Department of the
Treasury. The "complaint" e-mail bore the address
of frauddep@ftc.gov and displayed the FTC's government
seal.
Merely opening the e-mail doesn't appear to trigger the
virus' payload, but opening its attachment or clicking on
any of the links it contains does.
Says the FTC of the computer virus being spread in October
2007 in its name:
A bogus email is circulating that says it is from the
Federal Trade Commission, referencing a "complaint" filed
with the FTC against the email's recipient. The email
includes links and an attachment that download a virus.
As with any suspicious email, the FTC warns recipients
not to click on links within the email and not to open
any attachments.
The spoof email includes a phony sender's address, making
it appear the email is from "frauddep@ftc.gov" and also
spoofs the return-path and
reply-to
fields to hide the email’s true origin. While the email
includes the FTC seal, it has grammatical errors, misspellings,
and incorrect syntax. Recipients should forward the email
to spam@uce.gov and then delete it. Emails sent to that
address are kept in the FTC's spam database to assist
with investigations.
Simply opening the email does not appear to cause harm.
However, it is likely that anyone who has opened the email’s
attachment or clicked on the links has downloaded the
virus on their computer, and should run an anti-virus
program. The virus appears to install a "key logger" that
could potentially grab passwords and account numbers.
More information about bogus emails, phishing, and virus
protection is available at www.OnGuardOnline.gov.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide
information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. The FTC
enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other
fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure,
online database available to more than 1,600 civil and
criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
For free information on a variety of consumer topics,
click http://ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.
The Department
of Justice has recently become aware of fraudulent spam
e-mail messages claiming to be from DOJ. Based upon complaints
from the public, it is believed that the fraudulent messages
are addressed "Dear Citizen." The messages are believed
to assert that the recipients or their businesses have
been the subject of complaints filed with DOJ and also
forwarded to the Internal Revenue Service. In addition,
such email messages may provide a case number, and state
that the complaint was "filled [sic] by Mr. Henry Stewart."
A DOJ logo may appear at the top of the email message
or in an attached file. Finally, the message may include
an attachment that supposedly contains a copy of the complaint
and contact information for Mr. Stewart.
THESE EMAIL MESSAGES ARE A HOAX. DO NOT RESPOND.
The Department of Justice did not send these unsolicited
email messages — and would not send such messages
to the public via email. Similar hoaxes have been recently
perpetrated in the names of various governmental entities,
including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal
Trade Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service. Email
users should be especially wary of unsolicited warning
messages that purport to come from U.S. governmental agencies
directing them to click on file attachments or to provide
sensitive personal information.
In June 2007, another fake e-mail warning presented
as a complaint acknowledgement from the FTC also caused
consumers to download malware to their computers. Said the
FTC of the June
2007 "warning":
Consumers, including corporate and banking executives,
appear to be targets of a bogus e-mail supposedly
sent by the Federal Trade Commission but actually sent
by third parties hoping to install spyware on computers.
The bogus e-mail poses as an acknowledgment
of a complaint filed by the recipient, and includes an
attachment. Consumers who open the attachment to this
e-mail unleash malicious spyware onto their
computer. The agency warns consumers who get this e-mail
that purports to be from the FTC:
— Don't open the attachment.
— Delete the e-mail.
— Empty the deleted items folder.
The hoax e-mail is personalized, and contains the name
of the recipient and their business. The bogus message
explains how the complaint will be used, who will have
access to it and states, "Attached you will find a copy
of your complaint. Please print a hard copy of the complaint
for your records in the upcoming investigation." Opening
the attachment downloads the malicious spyware.
Consumers can learn more about protecting themselves from
malicious spyware and bogus e-mails at OnGuardOnline.gov,
a Web site created by the FTC in partnership with other
federal agencies and the technology industry to help consumers
stay safe online. The site features modules on spyware
and phishing, at http://onguardonline.gov/spyware.html
and http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace
and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop,
and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish
or to get free information on any of 150 consumer
topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357),
or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.shtm.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft,
and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel,
a secure, online database available to more than 1,600
civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
and abroad.
Virus:
"Amazing Speech by Obama" or "Obama Acceptance Speech"
Examples:
[Collected
via e-mail, November, 2008]
It has recently been brought to our attention that
some scam emails are being propagated with a subject
line of any of the following. Please do not open
any of these messages, simply delete them.
McCane dies of heart attack
Amazing speech by Obama
Election Center 2008: Primary Results
World Welcomes Obama's Win
Barack Obama in Danger - McCain will fight for president
post
These email messages may appear to be from legitimate
news sources, and will try to lure you into clicking
on a link that will direct you to a malicious web
site, or opening an infected video clip or attachment.
[Collected
via e-mail, December, 2008]
This email came from a source at the Secret Service,
so please be aware of any mails with the subject
line below.
THERE IS AN EMAIL WITH SUBJECT LINE OBAMA ACCEPTANCE
SPEECH FLOATING AROUND WITH A TROJAN HORSE ATTACHMENT.
DO NOT OPEN FOR ANY REASON. DELETE IMMEDIATELY.
THE TROJAN STEALS ALL PASSWORDS AND USER IDS.
SPREAD THE WORD.
Do not open ("Obama Acceptance Speech").
Origins:
Messages purporting to offer links to news sites or videos
with information about a current news event of great importance
have long been used as successful virus lures, and the U.S.
presidential election of November 2008
offered another prime opportunity for a renewed flood of
malware-spreading spam. Carrying subject lines advertising
news such as "McCane dies of heart attack" (sic) or "Amazing
speech by Obama," this crop of messages appeared to originate
with legitimate news sources and offered recipients links
to view a video of President-Elect Barack Obama's post-election
speech:
Barack Obama Elected 44th President of United States
Barack Obama, unknown to most Americans just four years
ago, will become the 44th president and the
first African-American president of the United States.
Watch His amazing speech at November 5!
Proceed to the election results news page
2008 American Government Official Website
Another variant offers to show the reader a video relating
to President-Elect Obama's being unseated by a challenge
from John McCain:
McCain Lawyer Impeach Obama! McCain has reached an agreement
with the Obama lawyers that makes Obama resignation effective
November 11. Barack Obama can lost President's
Chair. McCain video report 7 November:
Proceed to the election results news page
Another variant purports to offer a link to a video of Barack
Obama's post-election acceptance speech.
All of the enclosed links actually direct recipients to
a malicious web site that tries to trick users into downloading
keylogger spyware under the guise of offering an updated
version of Adobe Flash.
Subject: Obama Sex Video!!!
From: infonews@obama.com
Sensation!!! United States Senator for Illinois Barack Obama
in 2007 was travel to Ukraine and have sex action with many
ukrainian girls! You may view this private porno in a flash
video. Download
and view now. Please send this news to your friends!
Obama it's not right choice!!!
Last updated:
The virus lure message could arrive with any of the following subject
lines:
Obama is ponstar now
Porno with Obama
Sex Video with Obama
Obama Sex Video
Barack Obama Hardcore
Barack Obama sex story with girl
Obama private porno
Barack Obama sex story with Ukrainian girl
Origins:
E-mail
lures
intended to trick users into downloading viruses onto their computers
often falsely claim to offer video clips of celebrities engaging
in sex acts or information about some important breaking political
story or scandal, so conflating those two topics would seemingly
create a very effective lure indeed. Such was the premise of a September
2008 spam mailing that offered a link at which recipients
could supposedly view Illinois senator (and 2008 Democratic presidential
candidate) Barack Obama engaging in "sex action with many ukrainian
girls!".
Those who took the bait and clicked through on the message's link
did get to view an X-rated video clip, but that
video did not show (or have anything else to do with) Senator Barack
Obama. Meanwhile, as the unwitting viewers watched the non-Obama
sex video, malware (the Mal/Hupig-D
Trojan horse, which is ultimately used to steal passwords and other
sensitive information) was being furtively downloaded onto their
computers.
Mal/Hupig-D affects Windows-based computer platforms and can be
detected/removed by most up-to-date anti-virus software.
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