Beware Badly Misspelled Emails Supposedly From Groupon Offering “Dicount Gifts”

We don’t know too much about the inner workings of the Groupon office, but we are pretty darn sure they comb over every single emailed offer and would never spell discount as “dicount. Watch out if you get an email purporting to be from the company offering “Groupon dicount gifts” — it’s malware.

Security form Sophos says Groupon’s trusted reputation is being used to proliferate malware, with the aforementioned spelling-challenged subject line, followed by an email liberally sprinkled with more interesting interpretations of the English language.

“Now Groupon.com gives an opportunity to share a discount gift with a friend!” the reports PCMag.com. “Enjoy your discount gift in the attachement and share it with one of your friend as well.” Then there’s the warning, “Be in a hurry,” as the weekend special is “due” in two days.

Don’t actually hurry to share that, as it contains an attachment called “Gift coupon.zip” that has a Trjan virus designed to go hog wild on Windows computers.

If the spelling mistakes slip past careful readers, the email might look real, as it includes a Groupon company logo, green border and the ads at the bottom that are so familiar in Groupon emails.

Sophos warns people to pay close attention to any emails and make sure your anti-virus software is up to date.

“It’s easy for anyone to make a professional-looking email using the branding of a well-established website in their attempt to lure you into opening an attached file or clicking on a dangerous web link,” Sophos’ consultant Graham Cluley.

Malware Hidden in Fake Groupon Email [PCMag.com]

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