Obama sex video scam warning

Emails claiming that US presidential candidate Barack Obama was involved in a sex scandal should be treated with caution, security experts have warned.

The emails claim that Obama had been videoed in a compromising situation and promise to show you the footage if you click on the links contained in the message.

"United States Senator for Illinois Barack Obama in 2007 was travel to Ukraine and have sex action with many ukrainian girls!" the email claims.

"The US presidential fight is certainly heating up, and this malware is probably the first in a string of attacks designed to pique the victims' interest and trick them into clicking on the URL," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

Though the links do direct you to a sex video, it isn't Obama involved, according to Sophos. And while the video distracts you, something far more sinister is going on in the background.

"What appears to be an amateur porn movie is displayed on the computer screen while the malware is doing its dirty work and infecting your Windows PC with spyware," said Cluley.

"If this movie is homemade, then it's an astonishingly tasteless way to get back at your ex-partner. A video like this wouldn't survive for more than a few minutes on YouTube, but when used in a malware attack could potentially be seen by thousands or millions worldwide," he continued.

Watch Sophos' Graham Cluley explain how the attack works below



www.sophos.com