No, McDonalds Won't Give You a Free Breakfast

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 23 Jun 2011

Everybody likes to get stuff for free, I don’t think you can deny that. But if you thought you got a free breakfast from McDonalds, you’re out of luck. McDonalds isn’t giving away free breakfasts, it’s the bad guys trying to use McDonalds’ name to propagate their malware.

Sophos, company founded back in 1985 that specializes in providing antivirus, anti-spam, spyware removal software, network and internet security, announced that there’s a spam campaign making the rounds online, tricking users into thinking they can get a free breakfast courtesy of McDonalds. The message invites them to download an attachment and print out a supposed invitation to get the free breakfast.

The message in the spam email that’s making the rounds online goes something like this:

Good afternoon.

McDonalds invites you to The Free Breakfast Day which will take place on 26 June, 2011, in every cafe of ours.

Free Day’s menu!
- Ranch Snack Wrap (Crispy)
- Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips
- Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken
- Strawberry Triple Thick Shake
- McCafe Hot Chocolate

Print the invitation card attached to the letter and show it at the cash desk of any of our restaurants.

Thank you for your credence.
We really appreciate it.


The attachment (a ZIP file) is not an invitation, it is in fact malware. Sophos detects the ZIPO archive as Troj/BredoZp-DV and the nvitation_Card.exe that’s inside the ZIP archive as Troj/Bredo-HU.

Be weary of any unsolicited emails, especially ones that have a ZIP attachement and invite you to download it. Be weary of any unsolicited email that claims McDonald’s will give you a free breakfast. If you do get such an email, delete it immediately.

To stay safe and secure, to protect your computer from malware, keep it patched and up-to-date and use a properly good antivirus product.


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