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Watch For Scams Newsletter. Hotel Booking Confirmation Malware Emails
September 04, 2012
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Hotel Booking Confirmation Malware Emails

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Hotel Booking Confirmation Malware Emails

Messages claiming to be hotel room booking confirmation emails are currently being distributed to inboxes around the world.

The messages, which claim to be from online booking website, Booking.com, inform you that room reservations have been made for a specified date a few days hence and you are invited to open an attached file to view full details of the supposed reservation.

However, the emails do not contain information about a real hotel booking nor are they from Booking.com. The messages are designed to trick you into opening the attached file to find out more information about a supposed booking or purchase.

In fact, the attachment contains a trojan. Once installed, this malware can collect passwords and other sensitive information from the infected computer and relay it back to a remote server for collection and use by online criminals.

There are various versions of these malware emails so if you receive one of these fake hotel booking messages or similar, do not open any attachments or click on any links that it may contain just to see what it says.

This malware campaign is similar to an earlier trojan attack that used fake flight ticket confirmation emails that falsely claimed to be from several airline companies.

If you believe you have been a victim of this type of scam you should promptly report it to the IC3's website at www.IC3.gov. The IC3's complaint database links complaints together to refer them to the appropriate law enforcement agency for case consideration.

Remember - always watch for scams!

Steve

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