Fake Intuit emails lead to malware

Emails purportedly sent by US tax preparation software and services company Intuit and professional social network LinkedIn have been hitting inboxes in the last week, posing as payroll processing requests:

The emails try to establish a sense of urgency by saying that a considerable amount of money would be withdrawn from the recipient’s bank account in order to pay out the paychecks.

“But clicking links in the messages, will actually take victims to a compromised website that harbors malware,” Hoax-Slayer warns.

“The victim is taken to a site that supposedly contains more information about the payroll withdrawal and then asked to wait until the page fully loads. However, the page then automatically redirects to other sites where trojans and other types of malware may be downloaded to the visitor’s computer.”

Intuit has already posted a warning about these fake emails, and is urging users not to click on the offered link, but to forward the email to spoof@intuit.com and then delete it.

The same type of emails have also supposedly been sent by LinkedIn. Needless to say, users are advised to ignore them.