Beware of scam emails with airline confirmation attachments

[Wiz Feinberg]

Spammers are employing a new twist on an old spam tactic. They are sending spam with attached files claiming to be Delta - or other - airline ticket reservation confirmations. When opened the victim discovers a file with an enticing name and hidden executable extension. The file inside the attachment is actually a Zbot, or Zlob Trojan that makes them a member of a Botnet, if they operate as, or run it as an administrator.

In this particular scam run the recipient is told to open and print out the attached "PASSENGER ITINERARY RECEIPT" - which is the disguised Trojan.

So, if you booked a flight online or on the phone and receive an email confirmation, make sure it is addressed to you by name, as was given to the airline during your reservation process. If an airline confirmation email arrives that does not address you by your actual name, it may well be one of these Trojan-laden scams. Do not open the attachment until you have saved it to your desktop and scanned it with your virus scanner, using the most current definitions (update then scan).