Warning - ANY email with .zip or .exe attachments

[nielsencl]

This past week I have been seeing MANY new emails that seem to be malware. They are using many different versions and some could easily fool many people like this one:

-----Original Message-----
From: messages-noreply @ bounce.linkedin.com
[messages-noreply @ bounce.linkedin.com]On Behalf Of Adolph Mason
Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 2:11 AM
To: forms @ somedomain.us
Subject: Another candidate brought to you

Hi,

This is Adolph Mason working as a Technical Team Lead in IBM with over 10 years of solid mainframe development experience. I am confident that my skills will match for this requirement.

Please find the resume as a word attachment. I am available at xxx-353-5454 for a discussion. BTW I am in EST time zone.

Looking forward to work with you.

Thanks
Adolph

resume.zip
10KB

resume.exe
21KB

I've been seeing the same kind of attachments in emails from "Facebook" and other sites that you may or may not have joined. The point is that malware or botnet scammers are stepping up their campaigns to infect people and everyone needs to constantly be aware of risks with attachments, even if you think you know the sender.

 

[nielsencl]

Another example:

-----Original Message-----
From: Marion Rankin
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 11:33 AM
To: community
Subject: Flight Attendant-0600003A at AirTran Airways

Hello

We have received your application for the position of Flight Attendant-0600003A. After careful consideration, we inform you that you have been selected for this position.

We will retain your candidate file in our database and may inform you of job openings that match your profile if you selected this option. We also invite you to visit the Career Section on our Web site regularly.

We thank you for your interest in AirTran Airways and wish you all the best in your career search.

The attached file is a copy of your application.

Sincerely,
Recruiting Department
AirTran Airways

Flight Attendant-0600003A.zip [142899]
Flight Attendant-0600003A.exe [144384]