4 Oct 2010

Trade Me attacked by cybercriminals

6:05 am on 4 October 2010

Online auction site Trade Me has been attacked by cybercriminals trying to infect the computers of website users with a virus.

The attack began on Thursday morning when an advertisement purporting to be from travel guide Lonely Planet was posted.

Trade Me accepted the advertisement without knowing it contained a code enticing users to download anti-viral software, which contained the virus.

A spokesperson for the website, Paul Ford, says the company is aware of only five people whose computers have been infected.

Mr Ford says anyone who visited the fake Lonely Planet advertisment should run a full virus scan.