How Stupid Do They Think I Am?

As if we needed any more reason not to open .exe files there is a new one reported by the PandaLabs Blog this past Tuesday. PandaLabs Blog has reported a Trojan to Worm program that seems to have been created in Spain. The program gives even laymen wanna-be malware programmers an easy user interface to turn any executable file into a worm.

The TrojanToWorm Toolkit seems to be an effort by some malware programmer to make the creation of malware easily accessible to anyone with a few minutes and devious intentions. The TrojanToWorm Toolkit even lets the malware creator tell the malware to not infect PenDrives connected during specific user sessions or connected with specific names.

According to SC Magazine experts say that the T2W Toolkit seems to be a ploy to keep the heat off of more sophisticated hackers, but they fail to say who the “experts” are. I assume they are referring to the PandaLabs security personnel, one of which they mention having spoken to in the article.

I’ve learned new lingo as I look into the story of the T2w Toolkit, stuff such as script kiddies to describe n00b hackers that want to be hackers when they grow up. The T2W Toolkit is apparently believed to be aimed at letting them have fun in the World Wide Web sandbox while the more experienced hackers creep in under the radar and hack data.

One tidbit I got from the SC Magazine article that I am uncertain I’ll put to the test is that identity theft malware is beyond the abilities of script kiddies.   I don’t think I’ll risk the little rug rats not being able to figure out something devious.  They obviously have nothing better to do with their time than cause mayhem, so why trust that they can’t find ways to steal identities as well?

I’ll keep watching for more information on this T2W Toolkit stuff and update the blog as I get more information.

I know that it has been a while since I have updated the site, it is not for lack of scams entering my e-mail - oh no, definitely not that.  I’ve just been busy with other things and have not had the chance to get out here and update this site with more information on the assorted scams and identity theft efforts of Internet criminals.  I plan to get better at this, however, and have this site marked down for at least a weekly to bi-weekly update on information on Cyber crimes and scams.

I got an e-mail today that is looking very helpful and suggests that I immediately update my browser from Internet Explorer to FireFox (stet) to help me be more secure online.

Here, let me show you:

Hi ,

As you may have heard in recent national and local news, almost all versions of Internet Explorer have serious security problems (go here for a full list), causing users to have their private information stolen.

Please make it a priority to update your browser to FireFox now, it will

* make your Internet usage more secure
* let you surf the web faster
* even make money for you as member of Radiux

This will only take a few Minutes, so please update your browser now.

Best wishes,
Emily
Radiux Customer Service

P.S. Make sure to forward this message to a friend!

_{This Message was sent to our member (XXX@XXXXXXXX.com)
If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please disregard. Thank you.}

Now, I did join Radiux a while back, so it makes me wonder a bit more on if this e-mail is legit, so I have gone and registered with their forum so I can make an inquiry on that. The trouble here is, the links on the e-mail.

I’m sure you fellow Firefox fans out there noticed that I made a typo on my first mention, the same typo that is in the e-mail. I wrote FireFox, not Firefox. When I checked the links in the thing they all wanted to send me to a website called fireknox …. woah, wait - fireknox? I don’t think so dudes! I’m not even going to look up Fireknox and see what it is, because sounds to me like someone with a grudge against Raduix has started targeting people. I’ll let you know what I find out from their forums later on about rather or not this is a legitimate e-mail, but for now, I am classifying it in the category of very suspicious probable scam that likely leads to a virus planting website. I’m not going there.

Besides, I already use Firefox, have used it for years, so have no interest in following their link to update anyway.

For those who want a legitimate link for where to update Firefox you can find it at the Mozilla website at: www.mozilla.com/firefox.

I checked my e-mail today after a week of feeling bad and was not at all surprised to find a Hallmark e-card in there. Of course, I do not know anyone that would send me a Hallmark e-card, and no one has said they were sending me one, so… easy to spot as a scam even before you see the sender is some admin at xs.ac92 dot com website.

(click to see full size image)

These are usually the sorts of e-mails that carry along a little trojan program looking to steal your information. What ticks me off about this one is that the thing is circulating around just before Mother’s Day, which means there are a lot of senior citizens out there that are going to assume their kids sent them an e-card and open it up.

Don’t fall prey to these suckers, if you have no idea who a sender of an e-card is - *DO NOT OPEN IT*. Make it clear to everyone that you know that might send you something like that, that you will only open such things if they have told you in a separate manner that they are sending it to you. I have made it clear to all of my friends that unless they tell me over AIM (AOL’s Instant Messenger) that they have sent me an e-card or other e-mail with some sort of website link or attachment, then I will not open it, even if I recognize the sender. It’s better to miss out on a cutsey card than to have your personal financial information compromised by a scammer.

Okay, this one just made me shake my head, so I think I’ll share it here. I was going through my overloaded e-mails (2220 e-mails downloaded yesterday after a pause in downloads since the 6th when I began working on the tax returns). This e-mail caught my attention and no- I am not going to follow their advice.

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Subject: Confirmation!

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You have just received an HTML-rich eMessage that cannot be displayed by your email software. You may view this eMessage online with your internet browser by following this link:(Link removed by CyberCat)

You are receiving this email because you have previously consented to receive promotional email offers from third-parties. If you do not wish to receive future offers from this sender, then please so indicate by using the “Unsubscribe” link below or sending a written request to the address below.

Usted está recibiendo este email porque usted ha consentido previamente recibir ofertas promocionales del email de tercero-partidos. Si usted no desea recibir las ofertas futuras de este remitente, después por favor así que indique usando el acoplamiento de “Unsubscribe” abajo o enviando una petición escrita:

Unsubscribe Here: (Link removed by CyberCat)

MARSYS
(Address removed by CyberCat)

Forward to a friend
Unsubscribe from this service
Change format of future eMessages

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Just how stupid do these guys think I am? If they need to get in touch with me they can learn how to send me a standard e-mail just like everyone else on the planet sends, not some BS about how I have to follow a link because my e-mail program does not display their e-mail. If it won’t display it, chances are I don’t want to see it!