Phishers in Microsoft's Clothing

Is Microsoft the new eBay?

Only phishers and their fashion consultants know for sure, but if this week's spam scams are any indication, eBay is "out" and Microsoft is "in" as the disguise of choice for today's stylish spammer.

In fact, two new phishing scams involving Microsoft have been reported in the last two days. The first creative ruse is a message that promises to pay 100,000 British pounds to a select few victims of international spam scams around the world.

The message doesn't say whether Microsoft or U.N. officials will deliver the check in a big, white limousine, like Ed McMahon.

In the second spam scam, Australian users are receiving an email from "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation" that offers genuine news of a recent award that was given to a library in Australia's Northern Territory, according to security vendor Sophos.

The message invites readers to click on several URLs to read more about the award. The links lead victims to an infected Website in Korea, which downloads malware that exploits a previously-patched vulnerability in Microsoft's XML code, Sophos says.

Phishers have assumed Microsoft's clothing in several other scams this year, including a May campaign in which spammers faked a Microsoft piracy control warning and demanded the user's credit card. In March, phishers purporting to be Microsoft officials promised users large amounts of cash.

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