A new breed of malware is being pushed on the internet.

Jerome Segura, senior security researcher at Malwarebytes blogged that an on-going tech support scam is now using Rackspace's managed cloud network and the Akamai Content Delivery network to spread pop-up ads that pose as warnings that a site is infected and to click on the ad for help.

“What makes it even more effective is the fact that the scam page triggers a continuous series of pop up alerts preventing the user from closing the page. Out of desperation, users may end up calling the toll free number to get the situation resolved,” Segura said.

As with most tech scams, this one also has a fake Tech support person who tells you that for a fee, they will remove the offending messages. Microsoft estimates that about 3.3 million people will fall victim to scammers in 2015 and pay out more than $1.5 billion to the perpetrators.

Segura noted that the Amazon/Rackspace support scam is particularly nasty and tough for security staffers to recognize because it is more advanced than what is normally seen in the wild.

Source: SCMagazine