Irish customers are being warned not to open a dangerous spam email that locks computer files and demands a ransom for their return.
The warning comes from antivirus and internet security solutions firm ESET Ireland.
The mail, masquerading as an eBill from mobile and broadband provider Eir, contains dangerous ransomware which will demand payment to unlock your files.
According to ESET, the mail says:
Image: ESET Ireland
Clicking the link will download what appears to be a ziped file, however the company has warned it is really a "heavily obfuscated javascript file."
After the malware has locked the files on a victim's computer it plays a robotic voice recording, saying: "Attention, attention, this is not a test, all your documents, databases and other important files are encrypted and windows cannot restore them without special software. User action is required as soon as possible to recover the files."
Image: ESET Ireland
Paying the ransom will not guarantee the safe return of your files according to ESET - and can result in a repeated infection further down the road.
The company has urged users to take care and avoid clicking on " any attachments or links in such fraudulent emails."
Instead, users are advised to mark them as spam and delete them.