Worm Demands eBay Account Info

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December 18, 2003 (12:06 PM EST)

Another phishing expedition appeared on the Internet Thursday, this one dubbed W32/Cayam and targeting eBay users.

Cayam, which poses as a message from eBay with a subject heading reading 'Verify your eBay account information,' actually contains a worm in its attached file. When that attachment is opened, the worm displays several legitimate-looking screens that ask the user to enter his eBay user ID and password, then complete a seemingly official form.

The form request a whole host of personal and financial information, including the user's Social Security number, credit card information, and bank checking account number.

The worm propagates by lifting addresses out of the target PC's copy of Microsoft Outlook and e-mailing copies of itself to others, and can also spread via the peer-to-peer Kazaa and eMule networks.

Phishing, a term used to describe malicious e-mail that pose as legitimate messages from major corporations -- usually with the intent to trick the recipient into disclosing personal or financial information -- have been more aggressive this year than ever before, according to mail filtering firm Postini, which tagged an increase in the potentially lucrative practice as one of its top ten predictions for 2004.

Earlier this month, the Mimail series created a stir by trying to fool users into giving up account information for eBay's electronic payment service, PayPal.