WASHINGTON – A hotel reservation email scam is taking advantage of summer vacation season and attacking computers with a trojan virus.
Scammers are using an email labeled “Forward…Hotel Booking Confirmation” to put the virus on computers. The email appears plausible, instructing the user to open the attachment to see and confirm the reservation details.
But Sophos’s Naked Security blog says doing that will infect the computer.
The blog says the trojan virus gives the bad guys the ability to keep an eye on everything from emails to banking information.
Users should never open attachments sent out of the blue, especially from unknown people or companies, according to the blog. They should be wary of confirmations for things they never booked. And computers also need to be up-to-date on security patches and anti-virus protection.
WTOP’s Max Smith contributed to this report. Follow Max Smith and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
