Other LanguagesSpammers are using e-mails that appear to be from MSNBC.com and CNN to try to trick recipients into visiting Web sites laden with malware. According to reports from ComputerWorld, cons recently blasted millions of messages per hour masquerading as news alerts from CNN. Clicking on the links opens a window that says an incorrect version of Flash Player has been detected and tells users to update to a newer edition.
“If users agreed to download the bogus Flash update, they were trapped in an endless loop, where clicking ‘Cancel’ in the initial dialog produced a second pop-up. Clicking ‘Cancel" there returned the user to the first pop-up. The only options at that point were for users to shut down the browser or give in and install the malware,” the report states.
The same scammers then blasted out similar messages posing as MSNBC.com “breaking news” stories.
Don't download Flash Player from any site other than Adobe.com. If you receive a notice to update any software program, it's best to go directly to the vendor's Web site.