Malware Tricks Bank Customers into Draining Their Own Accounts

It used to be that fraudsters would infect a victim's computer with malware that invisibly drains bank accounts through online transfers. A new approach is much more brazen – it dupes victims into initiating those transfers themselves.

The malware, spotted by the German Federal Criminal Police, affects Windows computers. It manipulates what a user sees on-screen, displaying a message that says the user's account has been frozen until an erroneous credit has been reversed.

"When the unwitting user views his account balance, the malware modifies the amounts displayed in his browser" to show the false credit, Brian Krebs wrote on his Krebs on Security blog Thursday. "The victim is told to immediately make a transfer to return the funds and unlock his account."

To aid this, the malware fills in the transfer instructions to direct funds to an account controlled by the fraudster, Krebs wrote.

This malware is likely a variant of a bug that covers its tracks by displaying a fake account balance after the account has been drained, he wrote.