Be Warned: Fake Hotel Booking Confirmation Emails Contain Malware

One of the most common channels in which malware spreads is through email. From infected mail attachments to fraudulent links, scammers and cyber criminals are taking advantage of the fact that some people become less suspicious of message contents once it's delivered to their personal inboxes or mail accounts.

Another scam that's setting out to take advantage of this has just been discovered recently by security experts from Sophos: fake hotel booking confirmation emails.

These bogus emails contain subjects that bear the following subject: "Hotel booking confirmation [random number.]" The message basically informs the recipient that accommodation reservations have already been made on their behalf.

We have received a reservation for your hotel. Please refer to attached file now to acknowledge the reservation and see the reservation details.

- Fake hotel booking confirmation email

Alarmed, most people who receive the email will most likely open the attached .ZIP file to check the details of the transaction and to see if their credit cards have been misused--but that's when the trouble begins, because the attachment contains a Trojan horse called Mal/BredoZp-B and Troj/Inject-VI that will infect your computer.

In light of this, always be wary of any emails you receive out of the blue that contain unrequested banking statements and transaction receipts. Install an anti-virus program if you haven't already, and make sure to keep it updated to protect your computer.