Huntington Park Homicide Email Scam

Email scammers are always looking for new, inventive ways to lure readers into opening and executing malicious email attachments, and this latest method-operandi is the example to hit inboxes across the globe.

The email (example below) disguises itself as an alert from Critical Reach about a homicide suspect in Huntington Park, though later versions will likely alter that location. (UPDATE: later versions change location to London City) The email attempts to pique the curiosity of the reader or alarm them into opening the attachment which, according to the email contains more details.

 

 

Subject: ALERT@CriticalReach.Org

Bulletin Headline: HOMICIDE SUSPECT
Sending Agency: Huntington Park Police
Sending Location: CA - Los Angeles - Huntington Park
Bulletin DateTime: 2014-03-25 @ 14.32

The bulletin is a pdf attachment to this email.

The Adobe Reader (from Adobe.com) will display and print the bulletin best.
You can Not reply to the bulletin by clicking on the Reply button in your email software.

 

However the email contains a zipped application (.exe) file that harbours malware if it is executed.

Previous emails scams have claimed to come from funeral homes or even emails that claim the recipient may have cancer.

As usual, never open suspicious email attachments and always be wary of attachments in ZIP compressed files.

Think you executed a dangerous attachment? Then run your security software. Don’t have any? Click here for our recommendations.