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State Police Warning of Bogus Email With Malicious Virus Attached

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Bogus e-mails regarding an “Invoice” or a “Receipt” are increasingly prevalent across the landscape in Michigan as businesses and individuals are getting hammered again by fraudulent attempts to steal your data, and now they are infecting your computers with the Emotet Virus, according to the Michigan State Police.

The Michigan State Police Michigan Cyber Command Center (MC3) reported this afternoon that they have been noticing an increase in fraudulent emails containing malicious links or attachments that are being sent to both businesses and individuals across the state.

Authorities say recent emails have had subject lines that include terms such as “Invoice” or “Receipt, ” and those emails contain an attachment or link to download such as a PDF, MS Word or Excel document that contains malware.

Recent infections have been a result of the Emotet virus. Once infected, that virus has been known to steal contact information from any email address book that the user maintains, which allows the scammer to send spoofed emails to the user’s contacts as well. Other side effects of the malware include the stealing of passwords or banking information, encryption of user files and spreading of the virus to other computers that may be connected to the user’s network.

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The Michigan Cyber Command Center recommends carefully screening all emails prior to clicking links or opening any attachments. Any email with attachments or embedded web links should be handled with care until you can verify the authenticity of the email. State Police say you should pause to think whether you are expecting an email or document from the “sender” prior to opening any attachments or clicking on any links.

A lot of additional information about this virus can be also be found by clicking the link below from the Michigan Cyber Command Center:

 https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA18-201A