Fake Groupon Emails Contain Hidden Viruses — Dollars and Sense
Even the best writers sometimes misspell things, but if you’ve recently gotten an awkwardly worded, typo-laden email that appears to be from daily deal site Groupon, you can rest assured that you didn’t just catch the editors on a bad day.
That spelling-challenged missive is the work of scammers.
The emails, which bear the company’s logo and trademark green border, have the subject line of “Groupon dicount gifts” and they claim that one of your friends has shared a Groupon deal with you.
“Now Groupon.com gives an opportunity to share a discount gift with a friend!” it reads. “Enjoy your discount gift in the attachement and share it with one of your friend as well.”
Security firm Sophos says the “attachement” (it hurts us to even type that), named “Gift coupon.zip,” contains a Trojan virus designed to infect Windows computers. “Be in a hurry,” the email urges, warning recipients that the weekend special is “due” in two days.
Sophos consultant Graham Cluley says it’s important to keep your anti-virus software up to date and to treat unsolicited emails with skepticism, adding, “It’s easy for anyone to make a professional-looking email using the branding of a well-established website in their attempt to lure you into opening an attached file or clicking on a dangerous web link.”
[PCMag]