« More iPhony Tricks | Main | Malware Links to main.php »

October 05, 2011

Any communication from the taxman — other than a refund check — generates fear in most people. And if the following winds up in your email inbox, a bit of adrenalin must surely seep into your system:

From: Internal Revenue Service
Subject: Internal Revenue Service

Notice,

There are arrears reckoned on your account over a period of 2010-2011 year.
You will find all calculations according to your financial debt, enclosed.

Yours sincerely,
Internal Revenue Service.

The language of the message is odd, and certainly not American English, but I suspect plenty of recipients will glide past that to reach for the attached file named Calculations_IN15161.zip (your number will probably vary as the randomizer in the spam sending system fills in a different value). It's a backdoor Trojan loader, of course, so you don't want to mess with it at all. If you run the embedded .exe file, you might wish to trade your infected PC for a real IRS problem to reduce the headaches.

Update (13 Oct 2011): According to correspondent Vicki, this campaign is being customized for Australian email addresses by referencing the Australian Tax Office (ATO) — just to give it that homey touch. These messages, like more recent ones I've seen here for the IRS, have additional wording warning the recipient to act to clear the debt (usually with some bizarre verbiage) and threats of court action. They really want you to open that attachment so they can grab your PC.