The New Face of Identity Theft: The Automated Clearing House

Breaking News in Identity Theft: It appears that someone has been impersonating the Automated Clearing House (ACH) through a campaign of email messages preloaded with malware.

The ACH, a service of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), reports that these emails – with the subject line “ACH Transfer Review” – appear to come from a legitimate NACHA account.

Here are the details:

•  The email contains an urgent message saying that a transaction has failed; you must review the payment data by opening and filling out an attached application form.
•  The attached form – which looks like a standard .pdf – is in actuality an executable ZIP file, which installs the Zeus bot (a virus also known as Trojan.Generic.6152125).
•  The Zeus bot collects username and password information for all your financial data and sends it back to cybercriminals at a domain called digitalskys.com.

To protect yourself, be cautious and aware when opening email attachments. Not only does this simple act open the door for thieves to steal your identity, the damage to your finances could be significant.

If you receive a fraudulent email that matches these parameters, authorities ask that you forward it to abuse@nacha.org for analysis.