On August 4,2006, McDonald's Japan in collaboration with Coca-Cola ran a promotion that lasted until August 31. Customers would peel a 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
Winners 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]
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McDonald's Japan 2006 Google Translate Page apology and request for Mp3 players
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McDonald's Japan Customer Support Page in 2006 -
McDonald's Official Statement regarding 2006 Japan malware incident
References
- ↑ Sayer, Peter (2006-10-16). "Worm eats its way into McDonald's MP3 player promotion". InfoWorld. Archived from the original on 22 Feb 2026. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ↑ "McDonald's Mp3 Virus - Info Comp". Youtube. 2026-02-13. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Villa, Joey (2006-10-16). "Superspyware Me!". Global Nerdy. Archived from the original on 6 Aug 2025. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ↑ Stevens, Chris (2006-10-17). "McDonalds' free Trojan: "Would you like malware with that?"". CNET. Archived from the original on 21 Aug 2025. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ↑ Leyden, John (2006-10-16). "Spyware infection prompts McDonalds MP3 recall". The Register. Archived from the original on 23 Jan 2026. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ↑ Thomson, Iain (2006-10-17). "Free malware from McDonalds". ITpro. Archived from the original on 10 Jul 2025. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ↑ "McDonalds Unwittingly Distributes Contaminated Prizes". spamfighter.com. 2006-10-26. Archived from the original on 13 Feb 2026. Retrieved 2026-02-13.