Fake Beckham pics trick users with virus

Unsuspecting internet users could get more than they bargained for when trying to click on a site claiming to contain photographs of David Beckham caught in a compromising position, according to anti-virus firm Sophos.

Hackers have posted thousands of messages on internet chat rooms and news groups, claiming users can see pictures of the England football captain in a 'compromising' position with a Spanish hooker by downloading a file.

But inquisitive users will actually be infecting their PC with the Hackarmy trojan horse, a type of virus which can be used by cyber-criminals to remote gain access to unprotected PCs.

By building a network of 'zombie' computers, cyber-criminals can use the army of compromised machines to spread junk email, viruses and stage distributed denial of service attacks on businesses, for extortion purposes.

A typical message reads: 'David Beckham of Real Madrid was caught by photographers with his pants down. Early in the morning he was photographed with a Spanish hooker in a rather compromising position. Photos yet to hit the newspapers have been released here '

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said: 'The public's appetite for salacious gossip about the private life of the Beckhams might lead some into an unpleasant computer infection.'

'Hackers and virus writers will try all kinds of tricks to entice people into downloading their malicious code - now they are trying to suggest that England's football captain David Beckham has been playing away from home.'

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