Beware of convincing BT email that installs malware

ByCraig Haley

A convincing email that appears to be from BT is fooling victims into downloading malware onto their computers.

The email claims to show the amount of your latest bill and provides a link for the email recipient to “see their bill”. An example of the email can be seen below.

Upon a cursory glance the email may appear genuine, since BT do send email reminders that your latest bill is ready to be viewed.

However, upon clicking the link, the victim is asked to download a ZIP file. That ZIP file contains a piece of Javascript script that when opened, will instruct your computer to download malicious files from the Internet that will result in a nasty malware infection.


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Despite it being a convincing scam, the tell-tale signs of trickery are there. For one, the email doesn’t address the recipient by name and the from email address ends with btconnect.biz, a domain not associated with BT. The email also contains grammar mistakes that a legitimate BT would not.

However, most importantly is the fact that the email wants you to download a ZIP file when you click a link. This isn’t something BT would do, since their links will take you straight to their website.

These indicators point to the email being a scam. Never click links or open email attachments in emails unless you were specifically expecting them. That way you know that you can’t unwittingly download harmful files to your computer.

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