Got a suspicious looking email that claims you need to pay a speeding ticket in New York? Whatever you do, don’t open it — and definitely don’t open the attachment it says you need to print out in order to pay.
The email, uncovered by security firm Sophos, claims to come from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The attached file, Ticket-O64-211.zip contains “a malicious Trojan horse,” writes Sophos’ senior consultant and highly influential Twitter user Graham Cluley, “designed to download further malicious code onto your computer and compromise your security.”
The email, previously sent to Yahoo accounts, is now being spread far and wide across different email providers.
We’re not sure how many email users will fall for this trick. It is extremely unusual to receive a traffic ticket via email, let alone from New York’s overworked DMV. The body of the email gets very specific, claiming that you were speeding in a 55 mph zone at 7:25 a.m. on July 5 — further reducing the number of recipients who are likely to think this applies to them. And perhaps the biggest giveaway is the instruction “to plead, print out ticket and send it to Town Court, Chatam Hall [sic], PO Box 117.” Chances are this Trojan’s creator doesn’t hail from the U.S. There is a Chatham Hall, but that’s in Virgina.
Still, the threat is serious enough for New York State Police to issue a warning of their own. After all, if you start to mistrust the accuracy of a traffic ticket, you may be less likely to pay when the real thing lands on your doormat.
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Posted on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:19:42 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/asGTLZ14DXU/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/17/traffic-ticket-trojan/#comments
The email, uncovered by security firm Sophos, claims to come from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The attached file, Ticket-O64-211.zip contains “a malicious Trojan horse,” writes Sophos’ senior consultant and highly influential Twitter user Graham Cluley, “designed to download further malicious code onto your computer and compromise your security.”
The email, previously sent to Yahoo accounts, is now being spread far and wide across different email providers.
We’re not sure how many email users will fall for this trick. It is extremely unusual to receive a traffic ticket via email, let alone from New York’s overworked DMV. The body of the email gets very specific, claiming that you were speeding in a 55 mph zone at 7:25 a.m. on July 5 — further reducing the number of recipients who are likely to think this applies to them. And perhaps the biggest giveaway is the instruction “to plead, print out ticket and send it to Town Court, Chatam Hall [sic], PO Box 117.” Chances are this Trojan’s creator doesn’t hail from the U.S. There is a Chatham Hall, but that’s in Virgina.
Still, the threat is serious enough for New York State Police to issue a warning of their own. After all, if you start to mistrust the accuracy of a traffic ticket, you may be less likely to pay when the real thing lands on your doormat.
More About: email, security, spamFor more Tech & Gadgets coverage:Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:19:42 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/asGTLZ14DXU/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/17/traffic-ticket-trojan/#comments
