Email claims World War III outbreak

A new email scam that claims to bring news of the declaration of World War III is doing the rounds, security researchers have warned.

The emails link to a spoofed website designed to look like that of the news agency CNN.

According to the scammers, the outbreak of war was caused by Russia using nuclear weapons against Georgia.

However, the video embedded into the web page can't be played - when you click on it, a message pops up asking you to install an ActiveX Object, according to security firm Trend Micro.

If you do click on the message, you initiate the download of a banking Trojan onto your PC.

The Trojan waits for you to access banking-related websites and when you do, it spoofs the login page of the online bank and steals your account information, according to Trend Micro.

"Use of sensational headlines is nothing new, and spammers are constantly churning their creative juices to invent the most inviting email subjects," said Juan Pablo Castro of Trend Micro.

Surfers are warned not to click on links in emails sent from an unknown source. If you believe you have been infected, check your security software products are up to date and run a full system scan.

www.trendmicro.com