Microsoft is not mailing you about downloading Internet Explorer 7

A malware spam began showing up last week, claiming to be from “email hidden; JavaScript is required,” and with the subject line “Internet Explorer 7.” It’s dangerous, so be careful.

I’ve received hundreds of these messages so far, all the same — but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t variations floating around. The message body contains:

Download the latest version!

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Needless to say, these messages aren’t from Microsoft. The “download the latest version” link tries to install a file called “video.avi.exe” on your machine, which is a malicious Trojan that’s extremely hard to remove.

Don’t fall for this one.

Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick