A new virus has appeared on the internet, trying to trick kind-hearted users into executing it by pretending to be looking for donations to the tsunami appeal for south-east Asia. The mass mailer worm, known as Zar.A or VBSun, sends a message with the subject "Tsunami Donation! Please help!" and a message which says: "Please help us with your donation and view the attachment below!We need you!"
It comes with an attachment - tsunami.exe - which, when run, will send itself on to other e-mail addresses found on your machine. It"s thought the virus might also launch a DoS attack against a German hacking website.
Sophos" Graham Cluley said: "Duping innocent users into believing that they may be helping the tsunami disaster aid efforts shows hackers stooping to a new low." The company said it had so far only received a small number of reports of the worm in the wild.
Meanwhile, scammers trying to make money out of the tragedy have had their efforts foiled. A fake American Red Cross website was put up by scammers, and asked visitors for their credit card details - including PIN codes - to donate to the disaster fund.