This very realistic looking e-mail purportedly from Microsoft appeared in the inbox of a Chronicle news editor this afternoon.

Luckily, our eagle-eyed editor thought it smelled phishy - and it was.

According to computer security company Trend Micro, this tricky new spam e-mail was spotted during the weekend. The e-mail looks every bit like an e-mail about a Microsoft bug and security fix. And all the links are legitimate - except for one.

Here's what Trend Micro's Malware Blog says: http://blog.trendmicro.com/

"The URL where the "critical update" may be downloaded looks legitimate, but hovering over the hyperlink (or checking the source code of the mail) reveals a totally different destination."

Trend Micro says the URL leads to the download of a Trojan virus that "accesses a website to download a .bin file with information referring to where the Trojan can download an updated copy of itself, and where to send stolen data. The list also contains compromised websites targeted for stealing information.''

(TT Chronicle)