New Trojan Virus: Fake Windows 7 "Compatibility Checker"
There is yet another new scam e-mail making it's way through the Internet, based on the same trojan virus code that the recent fake "Facebook password reset" e-mail used to infect computers. Victims will receive an e-mail that appears to come from Microsoft with a zipped (compressed) attachment that you are supposed to install to check your computer's hardware and software to make sure that it is compatible with Windows 7. When you unzip and install the attachment, your computer becomes infected and gives the new software code control over your PC, potentially giving the scammers the ability to steal personal data or crash your system.
According to an article by Robert McMillan from PC World magazine: "Once a victim has installed the software, criminals can pretty much dowhatever they want on the PC, Cosoi said. That could mean installing akeylogger to steal banking credentials or even gaining full access tothe hacked system."
Users should be aware that Microsoft typically does not e-mail end users directly with software attachments, so if you ever receive a similar message, you should always go to Microsoft's web site directly and download the software yourself. Microsoft does indeed offer a legitimate Windows 7 Compatibility Checker. It is called the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and it can be downloaded from the following web page: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en .
Let's be careful out there!
-PJ
Posted by PJ Networks Blog at 5/11/2010 7:22 AM 
Categories: virus, scam, trojan, e-mail
Tags: virus scam trojan e-mail
Categories: virus, scam, trojan, e-mail
Tags: virus scam trojan e-mail
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