Malware Campaigns Impersonating U.S. Government Agencies

Original release date: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Last revised: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 4:31 pm

US-CERT is aware of multiple malware campaigns impersonating multiple
U.S. government agencies, including the United States Cyber Command
(USCYBERCOM) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Once
installed on a system, the malware displays a screen claiming that a
Federal Government agency has identified the user's computer as being
associated with one or more crimes. The user is told to pay a fine to
regain the use of the computer, usually through prepaid money card
services.

Affected users should not follow the payment instructions. US-CERT
encourages users to follow the recommendations in Security Tip ST05-006,
Recovering from Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses. Users may also choose
to file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center
(IC3).

Relevant URL(s):
<http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx>

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST05-006.html>