Elvis and the Beatles probably never could have imagined they would one day be used to commit stock fraud. But that is exactly what is happening, as spammers have taken to using MP3 attachments in e-mails named after recording artists as part of a pump-and-dump stock scam. Most of the e-mails have no subject name; others, however, appear to be named after the artist the MP3 file is named after, according to several security vendors.
When recipients click on the attachment, a voice relays a message promoting stock for a particular company. According to Commtouch, as of the afternoon of Oct. 18, no viral threats had been identified in these messages. The outbreak began Oct. 17 and accounted for around 7 to 10 percent of all spam globally over the ensuing 18 hours, officials at the Sunnyvale, Calif., security vendor said.