Microsoft has a strict policy on rude names for their XBox Gamertags. If you call yourself Spanky McBumpants (you might want to jazz that up in your head a little), they’ll force you to change it to something a little more sensible. As a result, a kind of urban myth persists that if you want to change your name without paying for it (yes, they make you pay to change your gamertag under normal circumstances), you simply have all your friends report your non-offensive name as something spectacularly foul.

Ka-ching: free name change. Unfortunately for them, Microsoft are aware of this and they check first to see if you’re trying to scam the system.

What do you think some enterprising young chap has created to cash in on this – some sort of fake Gamertag Changer, perhaps?

Oh look:

Click to Enlarge

This doesn’t work, obviously – all they want is the Windows LIVE ID and associated password. While the program is keeping you busy with jibberish such as this…

The program has sent numerous complaints, please keep this application open for at least 2 minutes to allow it to register. The next time you login to xbox live it should ask you to change your gamertag :]

…the program is busy sending emails stuffed with juicy login details to the creator.

At this point, the only offensive thing about the victim will be the large and varied collection of swear words they fire out once they realise they’ve been had. Considering all the things you can use a Windows LIVE ID for, it isn’t really something you want to be handing over to Little Jimmy Hackpants.

VirusTotal scores are extremely low at this point – just 2/43. We detect this as Trojan-PWS.GamertagStealer.

Christopher Boyd

View full post on Sunbelt Blog

• Windows “DbgHelp.dll” Export name stack overflow vulnerability
  The malwares in wild are exploiting this vulnerability. This vulnerabilty allows remote code to be executed while a debugger loads a specially crafted executable using Microsoft's Dbghelp.dll(ver 5.x)...
• Windows Live OneCare is Certified !
  We're certified ! This morning, Microsoft issued a press release describing how Windows Live OneCare has acquired multiple certifications for antivirus and firewall from ICSA Labs and West Coast La...
• Windows Live OneCare Receives a Virus Bulletin 100% Award !
  As many of you know already, Windows Live OneCare is now available at retail stores across the country and from http://onecare.live.com. As the provider of antimalware technology to Windows Live OneCa...
• “I live in a city under name Kirov”
  Unlike some other dating scam emails promoting very young women, this particular one claims to be from a 37-year-old economist, which I guess might say something about their target audience. In realit...
• Doctor Who calling-on Skype, with malware
  Earlier this week, I received a phone call via Skype on my laptop, the caller's ID was "dralerthelpzc8" as in Dr Alert Help ZC8. The voice on the other end was automated, computerized and otherwise no...
• KB2506014 kills TDL4 on x64
  Not so long ago, Microsoft released a security patch addressing the way Windows x64 operating systems check integrity of the loaded modules. In our recent report (The Evolution of TDL4: Conquering x64...
• Windows Simple Protector Adware Removal Instructions
  The Emsisoft malware research team has discovered a new outbreak of the Windows Simple Protector adware. Emsisoft Anti-Malware detects this malware as Adware.Win32.WindowsSimpleProtector. Windo...
• Windows Restore Adware Removal Instructions
  The Emsisoft malware research team has discovered a new outbreak of the Windows Restore adware. Emsisoft Anti-Malware detects this malware as Adware.Win32.WindowsRestore. Windows Restore is a r...
• Video – “Windows Activation” Ransom Trojan
  We recently came across a ransom trojan that prompts the following:"Windows license locked!"The trojan claims that "you should complete activation" and provides several phones numbers.The numb...
• Windows Repair Adware Removal Instructions
  The Emsisoft malware research team has discovered a new outbreak of the Windows Repair adware. Emsisoft Anti-Malware detects this malware as Adware.Win32.WindowsRepair. Windows Repair is a rogu...