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MessageLabs and F-Secure are among those reporting the discovery of a Trojan-carrying email, which is designed to appear as a CNN newsletter containing video footage of disaster.

The email uses breakingnews@cnnonline.com in the sesnder field and has the subject 'TERROR HITS LONDON' and has a file attached

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named 'London Terror Moovie.avi <124 spaces> Checked By Norton Antivirus.exe'.

The Australian Red Cross is also warning of reports of hoax emails it has received urging recipients to donate to 'London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund'. It says these emails are not from the Red Cross, and that in order to donate to the fund, you should do so through the Red Cross website.

Cyber criminals have piggybacked disasters to kick start virus attacks in the past. After the 9/11 attack against the World Trade Center in New York F-Secure reported the email worm W32/Vote.A@mm. On the anniversary the following year another e-mail worm, W32/Chet@mm, was found, which was so successful it forced the company to issue an F-Secure Radar 2 warning.

Similarly, there was a multitude of online scams earlier this year, hoping to take advantage of public sympathy and the many fundraising activities.