How to avoid installation of Pony via the HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update email
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is "HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update"?
Many spam campaigns infect computers with high-risk malware. Cyber criminals send emails that contain malicious attachments, or website links designed to download malicious files, and they hope that recipients open/execute them. Generally, the emails are disguised as important, official messages from legitimate companies.
This particular email is disguised as a message from HSBC Bank. It contains an attachment, which installs malicious software called Pony.
This email contains a message purporting to be sent by a person working in HSBC Bank's customer service. It states that HSBC Bank is providing some vital services to its loyal customers due to the coronavirus pandemic. For more details (such as "plans for 2020"), recipients are encouraged to check the attached file, a document named "RFQ.doc".
This document contains a number of pages filled with random characters. As mentioned, a file attached to this spam campaign installs Pony, however, in order for this malware to infect a computer, a malicious document must be allowed to enable macro commands.
Pony is malware that steals personal, sensitive data. I.e., information such as credentials (logins, passwords) saved on internet browsers, FTP, VPN, clients and other applications.
Therefore, cyber criminals behind Pony might access various accounts, which could be used to steal identities, spread spam, make fraudulent purchases and transactions, trick other users into transferring money, and so on. Victims of Pony attacks might suffer monetary loss, serious online privacy issues, have their identities stolen, etc.
Therefore, you are strongly advised not to open the file attached to this spam campaign and, more importantly, not to enable editing within it.
| Name | HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update spam |
| Threat Type | Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware. |
| Hoax | This email is disguised as a message regarding services provided to loyal HSBC Bank customers. |
| Attachment(s) | RFQ.doc |
| Detection Names | Antiy-AVL (Trojan[Exploit]/RTF.Obscure.Gen), DrWeb (Exploit.Rtf.CVE2012-0158), Ikarus (Exploit.Office.Doc), Kaspersky (HEUR:Exploit.MSOffice.Generic), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Symptoms | Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine. |
| Payload | Pony |
| Distribution methods | Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'. |
| Damage | Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the victim's computer added to a botnet. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
"COVID-19 Part Time Employment Email Virus", "DHL Relief Email Virus" and "COVID-19 Stimulus Email Virus" are some examples of other spam campaigns that cyber criminals spread in order to deceive recipients into opening a file designed to install malware. Other examples of malware that is distributed in this way include LokiBot, FormBook, ZLoader and GuLoader.
How did "HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update" infect my computer?
Pony can be installed on the recipient's computer only if the attachment in this email is opened and given permission to enable editing. Therefore, computers are safe from Pony infection as long as the attached document (in this case, "RFQ.doc") remains unopened, or it is opened with Protected View mode enabled.
Note that MS Office versions developed before 2010 do not include Protected View. Therefore, malicious documents opened with these versions infect computers without asking any permissions. More examples of files that cyber criminals attach to their emails are executable files (.exe), archive files such as RAR, ZIP, PDF documents and JavaScript files.
They also send emails that contain website links designed to download malicious files.
How to avoid installation of malware
Files and programs should not be downloaded from unofficial websites, through Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule), third party downloaders, freeware download sites or other channels of this kind. The only safe way is using official web pages and direct download links.
Irrelevant emails that are sent from unknown, suspicious addresses and contain attachments or web links should not be trusted. You are advised to open email contents only when you are sure that it is safe to do so. Software must be updated through implemented functions or with tools designed by official developers.
Third party tools can lead to installation of malware. The same applies to activation of licensed programs. Furthermore, it is illegal to use unofficial, third party tools to activate any licensed software. Finally, regularly scan your computer with reputable, up-to-date antivirus or anti-spyware software.
If you have already opened "HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update" email message:
Subject: HSBC BANK COVID-19 UPDATE. (KINDLY STUDY CAREFULLY)
Dear Sir & Madam,
Please kindly take note that in view of the current pandemic situation (COVID 19) which is globally affecting
various nations, The HSBC Bank team have profoundly put all resources together to provide key vital services to our
utmost loyal customers and intending customers. Kindly find atttached and carefully study our intended rolled out
plans for the year 2020 and ahead.
Best Regards.Customer Service Representative
HSBC Bank plc
8 Canada Square
London
E14 5HQ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44(0) 20 7991 8888
www.hsbc.co.uk
**********
This is an auto-generated email, please DO NOT REPLY. Any replies to this
email will be disregarded.
**********
_____
_____
**********
This e-mail is confidential. It may also be legally privileged.
If you are not the addressee you may not copy, forward, disclose
or use any part of it. If you have received this message in error,
kindly disregard and all copies from your system.
Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be timely,
secure, error or virus-free. The sender does not accept liability
for any errors or omissions.
**********
"SAVE PAPER - THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT!"
Malicious attachment distributed via "HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update" spam campaign (GIF):
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Quick menu:
- What is HSBC Bank Covid-19 Update spam?
- Types of malicious emails.
- How to spot a malicious email?
- What to do if you fell for an email scam?
Types of malicious emails:
Phishing Emails
Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.
Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.
After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.
Emails with Malicious Attachments
Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.
In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.
If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.
While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.
Sextortion Emails
This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.
To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.
How to spot a malicious email?
While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:
- Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
- Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
- Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
- Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.
To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
Example of a spam email:
What to do if you fell for an email scam?
- If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
- If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
- If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
- If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
- Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.
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