On August 4,2006, McDonald's Japan in collaboration with Coca-Cola ran an promotion that lasted until August 31. Customers would peal an code from a cup and type the code onto their website, with selected winners of 10,000 individuals obtaining an USB-stick MP3 players loaded with ten free songs. [1][2]
Incident
Winner's who received the McDonald's MP3 Player would be infected with an malware called QQPass Trojan that would affect computer's running Microsoft operating system, disabling anti virus protection system and capturing password information if the user is running QQ Instant Messenger, sending it via email to an third party.[3][4][5]
Company response
On August 7, McDonald's issued an public apology for any consumers infected from the incident. The Company offered a Web link that removes the malware from computers and allows winners to return their MP3 players for a free replacement. [6][7]
References
- ↑ Sayer, Peter (2006-10-16). "Worm eats its way into McDonald's MP3 player promotion". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ [www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV4rxKhiEKo "McDonald's Mp3 Virus | Info Comp"]. Youtube. 2026-02-13. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Villa, Joey (2006-10-16). "Superspyware Me!". Global Nerdy. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Stevens, Chris (2006-10-17). "McDonalds' free Trojan: "Would you like malware with that?"". CNET. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Leyden, John (2006-10-16). "Spyware infection prompts McDonalds MP3 recall". The Register. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Thomson, Iain (2006-10-17). "Free malware from McDonalds". ITpro. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "McDonalds Unwittingly Distributes Contaminated Prizes". spamfighter.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)