ACH debit transfer malware

Wire transfer fraud is on the rise, so it is no surprise that another 'ACH debit transfer' scam would be released into the wild, aka cyberspace. The latest email scam being randomly sent from spoofed accounts rotates amongst five subject matters:

1. ACH payroll payment was not accepted by Central Trust and Savings Bank.
2. ACH debit transfer was hold by Yolo Community Bank.
3. Funds transfer was hold by our bank.
4. ACH transfer was not accepted by Eldorado Bank.
5. ACH debit transfer was hold by The Mechanics Bank.

Possibly a compromise of third-party databases housing personal and key data helped plan the attack. For instance, emails may target customers of banks 1, 2, 3, or 4, and, for all others, the generic reference (5) is sent.

Below is the body of the tainted email, although the variables might change depending on the target, i.e. bank customer:

Dear Madam / Sir,
I regret to inform you that ACH payroll payment initiated by you or on your behalf was not accepted by Central Trust and Savings Bank.
Transaction ID: 17036653478735
Current status of transaction: on hold
Please review transaction details as soon as possible.
Theodore Parham
Payments Administration
Central Trust and Savings Bank

Persons who click on the 'review transaction details' hyperlink will be rerouted to a malicious page or link such as hxxp://openmindcomputech(dot)com/afin.html and hxxp://xxx.ebappcc(dot)com/zfin.hxxl. The supposed 'transaction details' page will be hidden behind the error and dialog box below:

Your version of Macromedia Flash Player is too old to continue. Download and install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.

Of course, the Flash Player Update is fake and, if downloaded, brings aboard a nasty Trojan (file name: update flash.exe).

Once loaded, the Trojan will make several registry changes, one that arranges for its poisonous executable to run at every Windows start. The Trojan will also open the port 11760 and establish a connection to IP 64.252.17.231.

All malware is charged with one or more payloads, in other words a goal or intended purpose. If you don't have a stealth anti-malware in place, which offers real-time alerts or uses behavioral analytics to stay atop of evolving infections, you may not be aware a hacker is lurking in the background. While you can remove some infections manually, a malware that is fortified by rootkit technology may not be so easy to find or remove. Rootkit technology helps bury or mask malicious files using familiar naming conventions. Deleting the wrong files could cause irreparable damage and you could lose all your valuable data. For this reason, it might be best to rely on a reputable anti-malware tool known to contain an anti-rootkit feature and be able to remove all infections safely, including the ones hiding out in your system kernel or BIOS.