Bin Laden Been Scammed

"The first spam using the news of Osama Bin Laden's death was seen in the wild within three hours of the event," says Samir Patil of Security giant Symantec.  If you have gotten tired of ill-fated Nigerian royalty trying to shift several million dollars worth of family fortune, and enlisting your help, for a couple of million dollars fee of course, how about checking out videos of Osama bin Laden?

Wary Internet users successfully overcoming the temptation of seeing pictures of Kylie Minogue or Britney Spears in compromising positions, nonetheless fell for, and clicked on their Facebook links which cried out aloud – "Osama Dead – Censored Video Leaked." At which point, the link was posted on the walls of their friends, and thus the malware spread. "Osama is dead, watch this exclusive CNN video which was censored by Obama Administration due to level of violence, a must watch. Leaked by Wikileaks",  said the accompanying text. Some added, for additional seduction, "Scientists have found a way to predict your aging. With the new tool releases, you can see how you will look after 20 years. Its worth a try." (Then again, if you clicked on a link that promised exclusive video footage of Osama bin Laden,  AND a 'scientific' way to predict your aging, you probably had it coming).

There were also spam that included the "Fotos_Osama_Bin_Laden.zip" archive attachment, reports Computerworld . The .exe file leads to a new Trojan horse that tries to locate online banking sessions and then tries to redirect them elsewhere.

Spammers targeted CNN, where emails containing a link to CNN Mexico opened to a look-alike phishing site which encouraged readers to download uncensored photos and videos of Bin Laden. Most of the malicious attacks have originated from Brazil, Europe, and the US, adds Symantec.

Update your anti-virus, and make sure you do not click on dubious links, not even if they were sent by your best buddy or offered to show Britney Spears tapes!