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I am using Firefox 39.03 and I’m subscribed to a few Google Alerts. I recently received several alerts each containing a link to a URL which is a PDF file whose only content is a link to a Russian download site that attempts to download an installer rather than the listed PDF file. I find this very suspicious and a possible source of malware because it seems to me it should just download the pdf file. Here is an example:

https://berimaber.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/xml-schema-to-dtd-converter.pdf

The above pdf file contains just a link to "read/download" the file. The link location is:

https://download.myfilesearch.ru/go.php?q=Xml%20Schema%20To%20Dtd%20Converter

But when I click on it it takes me to a Russian site that attempts to download an installer with an EXE extension. I downloaded but have not installed.

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    Wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole.
    – Tetsujin
    Oct 19, 2015 at 17:54
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    Given the the whole site berimaber.files.wordpress.com is just a bunch of (presumably malicious) pdf links I would be suspicious as well.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Oct 19, 2015 at 17:54
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    Neither PDFs nor EXEs are safe to download from untrusted sources.
    – Frank Thomas
    Oct 19, 2015 at 17:58
  • You are correct, it should not be an executable. Delete it right away and don't let curiosity kill the cat (your computer).
    – MonkeyZeus
    Oct 19, 2015 at 19:13
  • An installer cannot be a PDF file and a PDF file cannot be an installer or an executable. This is a pretty clear scam/virus/trojan. No "suspicious" about it, it's 100% malicious.
    – qasdfdsaq
    Oct 19, 2015 at 21:01

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