The Avaya Modular Messaging email scam

This past week I received an email indicating it was a voicemail message created by Avaya Modular Messaging. This was the second time I’d seen one of these messages, which I suspected to be a scam. I filed the message away to check on it later. What I discovered is that my initial impression was correct.

If you have received one of these emails, do not open the attached zip file. The zip file, as reported just two days ago on Dyanmoo’s Blog, contains a “malicious executable VoiceMessageTT.exe with an icon to make it look like an audio file.” Just in case you got lost on that description, it’s malware that, once clicked, installs itself and has the potential to let someone else control your computer. The results of falling for the Avaya Module Messaging scam are not as severe as some malware programs according to threatexpert.com, but if you’ve received this email and clicked the zip file, you should run your virus checker and malware program to verify there are no malicious programs installed on your computer.

If you haven’t yet received this particular email, you may in the near future. Here’s what to watch for:

• The subject of the email will be “Voice Mail Message”
• The message will be “From” an address that appears to be on your domain (my came from a random combination of characters followed by @satoriwebdesign.com)
• The message contains a single line of text, “This voice message was created by Avaya Modular Messaging. To listen to this voice message,just open it.” (Note that they forgot to space after the comma—a sure sign that something is fishy.)
• The message contains a zip file with a name something like “VoiceATTxxx.zip” where the XXX is a number.