Phishing lures draw recipients to fake video of "dead" Castro

By Jack Rogers on Mar 4, 2008 9:31 AM
Filed under Messaging

A phishing email is in circulation attempting to lure recipients to fake news video purporting to come from a major Hispanic TV network and showing former Cuban President Fidel Castro lying in a coffin with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in tears at his side, Websense has warned.

A phishing email is in circulation attempting to lure recipients to fake news video purporting to come from a major Hispanic TV network and showing former Cuban President Fidel Castro lying in a coffin with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in tears at his side, Websense has warned.

In a posting on its security blog, Websense said recipients clicking on a link to the fake video actually will receive a trojan downloader hosted from a malware site in Korea.

A message in Spanish dated February 28 in the bogus email appears under a "Univision.com Exclusivo" label, including the logo for the popular Spanish-language TV network, and informs recipients that Castro suffered a sudden heart attack the day before and died.

According to Websense, the bogus message reads in English:

"This morning, inside his residence in Languito, the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died. Video of Hugo Chavez (Venezuela's President) crying next to his casket. Image of Fidel Castro inside a casket. Here are exclusive Images and Video. According to official news, Cuban dictator Castro had been in critical condition for the past few days and suffered an unexpected heart attack."

A photo of what appears to be Castro lying in state is included in the message.

Castro has not spoken in public in more than a year after falling ill and undergoing emergency surgery, and has only appeared briefly in film clips showing Chavez visiting with him in the hospital. The Cuban leader recently issued a letter ceding power to his brother, Raul.

See original article on scmagazineus.com

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