Threat Management, Malware, Phishing

Fake WannaCry sent via phishing emails

Cybercriminals are once again looking to extort victims by piggy backing off the success of WannaCry with their own scareware demanding bitcoin based on fear rather than an actual ransomware attack. 

The attackers send phishing emails claiming to be from the “WannaCry-Hack-Team” using the misspelled subject line “Attantion WannaCry” threatening to encrypt and permanently delete files if a 0.1 bitcoin ($650) payment isn't received, according to an alert from the U.K.'s fraud and cybercrime center.

The messages, regardless if the devices are Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, or Linux, claims the ransomware has the ability to infect multiple systems despite the real WannaCry only impacting Windows devices. Users are told that if they try to rid the ransomware from their device, their files will be deleted less they pay up. Since the user's device isn't actually infected, this is little more than a hollow threat.

This isn't the first time cybercriminals have tried to leverage the WannaCry or other ransomware's such as Petya to scare users out of a quick buck. The U.K. authorities have already received more than 300 reports of the fake WannaCry and users to delete and report emails like this and not entrust the fraudsters or pay them.


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