Antivirus
The attacks aim to harvest user details through a bogus offer of free Kaspersky software

Free antivirus offer becomes latest phishing lure

Lloyds TSB customers targeted with bogus software offer

Written by Shaun Nichols in San Francisco

A recently discovered attack is putting a new twist on phishing bank accounts.

Customers from Lloyds TSB are being targeted in a new spam phishing attack that claims to offer users a free copy of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. Users are promised the security software in exchange for filling out an "application" that harvests user data.

The phishing attack plays off a recent round of deals Kaspersky has agreed with banks. Most notably, the company signed a deal to provide free security software to Barclays customers earlier this year.

Banks often partner with security software companies in an effort to lower fraud cases by preventing users from falling victim to malware and phishing attacks.

"It's an interesting tactic, we do work with some UK banks to provide products to their customers, and this might make Lloyds customers think the offer is genuine," wrote Kaspersky researcher Michael Molsner.

Kaspersky is warning users to be on the lookout for such attacks. Molsner also noted that when it does make distribution deals with banks, customers are not notified by unsolicited emails.

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print this
  • Share

reader comments

related articles

PhishingSecurity

Bank buyouts trigger new phishing scams

Criminals take advantage of merger mayhem 08 Oct 2008

 

FCC warns of new phishing scam

Cyber-crooks spoof online payment system 05 Sep 2008

Web braces for wave of hurricane scams

Beware Gustav donation phishing 03 Sep 2008

Precocious phishers target teen world

'Devious' phishing scam could wreak havoc with banks 26 Aug 2008

Third of UK surfers banking online

Brits seem unfazed by security concerns 29 Apr 2008

ZeuS malware takes aim at tax season

Malicious payload hidden in phoney IRS documents 27 Mar 2010

Recession causes huge rise in identity fraud

Criminals are finding it easier to hijack people's accounts 04 Feb 2010

Trojan attack targets Facebook users

Malware scam claims to offer password reset confirmation 28 Oct 2009

related white papers

today's top stories

Financial IT job market recovery continues

Recruitment growth suggests IT budgets are increasing 30 Jul 2010

Satellite broadband touted as digital divide clincher

KA-SAT launch promises 10Mbit/s service for hard-to-reach locations 29 Jul 2010

Ofcom slams ISPs for exaggerated broadband speed claims

New code of practice for ISPs planned by the regulator 27 Jul 2010

Aerohive offers traffic light Wi-Fi monitoring

Firm promises simple 'red, yellow or green' system with Client Health Score tool 27 Jul 2010

Flaw in top wireless security protocol WPA2 uncovered

Disgruntled insiders could hack corporate wireless LAN 26 Jul 2010

Advertisement

How to achieve business and financial-system implementation success
A look at how organisations - regardless of size - can work towards successful business software installations and factors that determine the outcome.

Case study: Specsavers put customer care into focus
How Specsavers captured customer feedback at point of sale and incorporated the results into its CRM system.

Advertisement

Citrix

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you thousands of white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

More available - click 'submit' to view

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Jobs

Related jobs

Job of the week

Job alerts

Sign up here

Find your next job

IT Salary Checker

Check salary here

Advertisement

Latest poll

ICO to lean more heavily on public sector bodies

ICO to lean more heavily on public sector bodies

The ICO has said it will lean more heavily on public sector bodies to secure timely FOI responses, do you think this is:

View poll results

Latest audio and video articles

picture of Jason HartVideo

Ethical hacker reveals the security secrets behind cloud computing

Jason Hart, Senior VP at Cryptocard, shows Computing just how easy it is to illegally gain access to corporate cloud services to wreak havoc and steal money. 29 Jun 2010

gartner logoVideo

Part 1: 2010 trends in SOA and Application Development and Integration

Gartner analyst Paolo Malinverno explores trends in SOA 29 Jun 2010

Latest in-depth articles

Map of 3G coverageComment

The risks of selling off the 800MHz radio spectrum at the wrong price

It's a choice between revenue now or universal broadband later 30 Jul 2010

Luton Borough Council officesAnalysis

Local authority leads the way in digital backup technology

Luton Borough Council tells of the benefits of early adopter of VTL, data deduplication and virtualisation 27 Jul 2010

Primary Navigation