WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

zaphod · 2011-07-16 2:13 pm

WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS BEING SPAMMED TODAY! UPDATE IS MOST LIKELY MALWARE!

Sample message follows:

Fake Adobe Sender wrote:

INTRODUCING UPGRADED ADOBE
ACROBAT READER
Adobe is pleased to announce new version upgrades for Adobe Acrobat Reader
http://{SOME FAKE WEBSITE}
Advanced features include:
- Collaborate across borders
- Create rich, polished PDF files from any application that prints
- Ensure visual fidelity
- Encrypt and share PDF files more securely
- Use the standard for document archival and exchange
To upgrade and enhance your work productivity today, go to:
http://{SOME FAKE WEBSITE}
Start downloading the update right now and let us know what you think about
it.
We're working on making Adobe Acrobat Reader better all the time !
Copyright 2011 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Adobe Systems Incorporated
343 Preston Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 1N4
Canada

Samples of fake website URLs I have seen in multiple copies of this email (broken to avoid active linking)...
hxxp://www.acrobat-reader10-upgrade.c0m
hxxp://www.adobe-acrobat-documents.c0m
hxxp://www.acrobat-reader-center.c0m
hxxp://www.adobe-reader10-center.c0m
hxxp://www.adobe-acrobat10-center.c0m
hxxp://www.acrobat-reader-center.n3t
hxxp://www.acrobat-reader-center.0rg
hxxp://www.adobe-reader10-center.0rg
hxxp://www.adobe-reader10-center.n3t

BE WARNED! ALL THESE HIT MY INBOX JUST THIS MORNING!

Zap

lilguy43uk · 2011-07-17 9:48 am

Thanks Zap

I'll keep an eye out for them.

zaphod · 2011-07-17 10:06 am

Yeah, those hostnames could easily be added to the bad hosts list too.

After the infective hackers are done with them, they will be given/sold to spammers.

Zap

Valor · 2011-07-17 1:29 pm

Did somebody try already to report these domains to Adobe or some kind of brand protect? The sites are hostet in AS52048 which is located in Latvia. Latvia is in the european union, so it should be possible to shut down these sites.

See also:
http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/cert/bac … try/latvia

Mainly the national CERT of that country does some action if you write to them...

Edit: The site where the original site redirects is located in Netherlands... by AS34109 which is registered for some hosting company at the bahamas... very strange.

Last edited by Valor (2011-07-17 1:32 pm)

zaphod · 2011-07-17 2:33 pm

Welcome to the snakiness of cybercrime.

It's a very tangled web of deceit and mangled information.

I just hope I kept at least one person from damage.

Zap

diabolic.bg · 2011-07-17 2:59 pm

Thanks Zap! I have spread it throughout in Bulgaria.

MtnVision · 2011-08-06 5:58 pm

All these type emails went straight to my gmail spam box... so maybe gmail is on top of that.
I am also seeing similar for Microsoft Office now but I'm not looking at any of it.

BTW I use FoxIt Reader instead of Adobe and just love it!

WindsorFox · 2011-08-07 2:28 am

Wait, I always considered Adobe a virus anyway. At the very least seriously annoying bloatware. FoxIT FTW.

heenan73 · 2011-08-08 1:51 pm

WindsorFox wrote:

Wait, I always considered Adobe a virus anyway.

Too true - adobe's own REAL updates are a scam - they always try to con you into updating stuff you don't actually have and don't need, then a memory hungry program sits there all day, updating several times a week.

They even pop up whenever chrome is used to view a PDF, telling you it won't open properly - but of course it opens perfectly.

Horrible company, horrible products.

pedigree · 2011-08-08 2:51 pm

Ask anyone that writes their own PDF software and they'll happily go at an Adobe programmer with a chainsaw and a smile

Katana · 2011-08-08 4:10 pm

heenan73 wrote:

WindsorFox wrote:
Wait, I always considered Adobe a virus anyway.
Too true - adobe's own REAL updates are a scam - they always try to con you into updating stuff you don't actually have and don't need, then a memory hungry program sits there all day, updating several times a week.
They even pop up whenever chrome is used to view a PDF, telling you it won't open properly - but of course it opens perfectly.
Horrible company, horrible products.

Odd, never had that happen. I've used Chrome for PDFs and it opens them fine using the internal viewer every time.

heenan73 · 2011-08-09 12:29 am

Obsidian wrote:

Odd, never had that happen. I've used Chrome for PDFs and it opens them fine using the internal viewer every time.

I suspect it's because I use dreamweaver. Adobe only need one foot in the door, and they'll act like Jehovah's Witnesses forever.

Well, until Judgement day, anyway.

MtnVision · 2011-08-09 2:08 pm

WindsorFox wrote:

Wait, I always considered Adobe a virus anyway. At the very least seriously annoying bloatware. FoxIT FTW.

SO TRUE! Love FoxIT
Since Adobe PDF Reader started returning false reports on DRM check (another backdoor) it can just be a dead app for all I care... Hate Adobe software... Why people so proud of Photoshop is totally beyond me... saves a huge file & more edits means more file size or at least that was the case when I played with it years ago.

Maikuolan · 2011-08-11 3:25 am

Got header information? Could be useful for implementing into mail filtering.

#1 2011-07-16 2:13 pm

WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#2 2011-07-17 9:48 am

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#3 2011-07-17 10:06 am

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#4 2011-07-17 1:29 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#5 2011-07-17 2:33 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#6 2011-07-17 2:59 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#7 2011-08-06 5:58 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#8 2011-08-07 2:28 am

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#9 2011-08-08 1:51 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#10 2011-08-08 2:51 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#11 2011-08-08 4:10 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#12 2011-08-09 12:29 am

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#13 2011-08-09 2:08 pm

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

#14 2011-08-11 3:25 am

Re: WARNING: FAKE ADOBE E-MAIL ASKING YOU TO UPGRADE ADOBE PRODUCTS!

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