BBC News Stories Used In Malicious Spam
Sunday 2 April 2006
Spam e-mails are circulating that include false links to news stories on the BBC web site, and actually link to malicious web sites that will install spyware on your PC.
The e-mails include excerpts from BBC news stories, but the links to find out more do not take you to the BBC web site but instead to another site which will then install software on your computer that monitors your online financial activity.
The spammers are taking advantage of a flaw found in Internet Explorer to install these malicious programs. Microsoft said its next security update, due on 11 April, will remove the vulnerability.
A similar false use of the BBC's name was the recent Hotmail user fee spam story, where Hotmail users were receiving e-mails warning them they would have to start paying for their e-mail account, apparently backed up by a link to a news item on the BBC site.
The BBC's news page has more information about this threat here: BBC news article
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