Using an authentic-looking Verizon Wireless email thanking subscribers for their payment of an outrageously high bill, spammers are hoping to trick recipients into clicking on a link that says “Manage your account online”, warned Commtouch in a recent blog.
Of course, the link takes recipients to malicious websites that infect their machines by exploiting vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Flash Player.
The same spammers are responsible for the fake AT&T Wireless bills identified by Commtouch earlier this month.
“The Verizon emails also lead to sites hosting malware – although there are far fewer links in the email – and the same compromised site is used repeatedly in each email (in the AT&T attack, up to 9 different sites were used). The same gang appears to be behind both attacks since the link structure is identical: <compromised domain>/<8 random numbers and letters>/index.html. The same vulnerabilities are once again exploited via the scripts on the sites”, explained Avi Turiel, director of product marketing with Commtouch.
In a recent Infosecurity interview about the AT&T Wireless scam, Turiel said that the spammers are counting on the recipients being outraged by the high bill and clicking on the link without considering the risk.