There has been a lot of malicious email activity recently on the Internet regarding failed ACH Debit Transfers. The ones we have personally seen at Omega ATC include an official looking ID and explanation that a payment that was sent from our checking account was rejected by the another financial institution. A “handy” Microsoft Word formatted report is referenced along with a link to open the report directly that will give you all the details on the failed transaction. Even the official trademarked logo, with the actual address of the Electronic Payments Association (NACHA) is professionally displayed at the top of the nice looking email. However, don’t open the link to the report. If you do, be sure your AV and anti-malware software are running at full throttle because you are about to receive a load of something you really don’t want.
The report links in these malicious emails often take you to one of several malicious sites where malware is hosted and ready to install on the systems of all those who arrive there. You will likely see upon your arrival a pop up window appear to “Update your Adobe Reader” or “Update your Adobe Flash Player” that looks just like requests you would have seen previously in the past at other legitimate sites. It is easy to believe that this is simply necessary in order to view the report referenced in the malicious email you received, but don’t update your flash player or Adobe reader from any site but adobe.com! If you do elect to update your flash player or reader at one of these sites, you will likely authorize the immediate installation of malware on your system.
If you have already performed the steps above, and believe you have possibly downloaded malware on your system, immediately run anti-malware software scans to attempt to get the malware uninstalled before more damage is done to your system or your system is high-jacked to send malicious email to others.
