FBI Said Emails Are Fraudulent...Watch Out!!!

October 2009

On October 5, 2009, the FBI’s cyber investigations unit released warnings to the public concerning three fraudulent emails currently making the rounds on the Internet. The first email, which has been circulating since August 15, 2009, is titled “New Patterns in Al-Qaeda Financing” and has the subject title “Intelligence Bulletin No. 267.” It has also an attachment, “bulletin.exe” that if opened, may contain files which are harmful to the recipient’s computer or may try to obtain user credentials. The second fraudulent email purportedly comes from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI’s counterterrorism division and has as a subject line “New DHS Report.” It also has been circulating since August 15, 2009 and claims to contain via an attachment an audio speech by “Usama Bin Laden.” If opened, the attachment, “audio.exe” contains malicious software that will try to obtain information from the recipient’s computer. The final email claims to be a report from the FBI’s “Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate.” It contains an attachment, “reports.exe” that, if opened, could execute trojan software related to ‘W32.Waledac” that is designed to steal user authentication credentials or send out spam. The public is advised not to click on these emails or anything similar as they are hoaxes.