"Instructions.zip" Email Virus

11 June 2010 

Please read this message carefully

Account Notification Email Warning - DON'T follow the instructions

Emails claiming that a recipient's accounts have been temporarily suspended are being sent attempting to trick users into believing that their email account has been accessed by somebody else.

The spammed-out emails try to hoodwink users into running the attached file (Instructions.zip) which is carrying a malicious payload.

Here's what the emails look like (their spelling and grammar, not ours!):

Dear Customer,

This e-mail was send by example.com to notify you that we have temporanly prevented access to your account.

We have reasons to beleive that your account may have been accessed by someone else. Please run attached file and Follow instructions

(C) Example.com

In an attempt to make the email more convincing, the attackers reference the domain name (for instance, example.com) used by the recipients' email account in the emails they are spamming out.

Do not open the attachment.

Delete the message by holding down the shift key and pressing delete, this will permanently delete the message.

If you are unsure about what to do and need some advice we are here to support you, so please contact the Helpdesk on 020 8660 1730 for reassurance.