At least that’s what a new spam run tells you.

Email messages claiming to be from Esmas, the largest television network in Mexico and also the world’s largest producer of Spanish language media, inform users that Joaquín López-Dóriga has died in an automobile accident. López-Dóriga is one of the more popular news anchors in Mexico. Here’s a screenshot of a spammed message:

Figure 1. Sample email message.

This same message also informs users that they can download a news video regarding the accident by clicking on the link provided in the message. By clicking on the link, however, users are unknowingly downloading a malicious executable named videoDoriga.exe instead of an actual video:

Figure 2. Users download an .EXE file instead of a video footage.

Trend Micro detects the file as TROJ_CHOST.E. Deaths of prominent personalities are a common technique used by spammers to lure users into clicking links in email messages. Shocked perhaps at the unexpected news, users may want to find out more. Since the links promise more details, users are most often tricked into clicking them.

Incidentally, another celebrity was reported dead by spammers last week, in what was a phishing operation. Other spamming operations related to famous individuals include:

• FARC Leader Killing Leads to Farce Email Messages
• Cuba’s Castro: Critical Condition to Concocted Casualty

These spammed email messages are already blocked by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network. The same technology also detects the Trojan on the desktop level, and provides solutions for its removal. Users are advised to refrain from clicking links in unsolicited messages. News websites remain the best avenues for checking facts.

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