Free Document Converters - Now With Bonus Malware

You upload a document.

It gets converted to PDF.
Job done, right?

Not always.

According to a warning from the FBI’s Denver office, some free document converter tools are being used by scammers to spread malware – often hidden inside the converted files. While the tool seems to work just fine, the resulting document may contain info-stealing malware or, in some cases, ransomware.

What’s the trick?

• You upload a file

• The converter does its job

• The downloaded result includes:

• Hidden malware

• Info-stealing payloads

• Sometimes ransomware

• Meanwhile, attackers scrape your uploaded files for:

• personal data

• passwords

• banking and crypto information

“The best way to thwart these fraudsters is to educate people,” says the FBI.
So… consider this your friendly malware PSA. 🫡

What’s safe?

You might be thinking: Okay, so what tools can I actually trust?

Honestly, I don’t know for sure, but personally, I use:

• Adobe’s online PDF tools
• iLovePDF – decent, popular, hasn’t tried to ransom my files yet

(Not sponsored, just what’s worked so far.)

How to protect yourself

• Scan everything you download, even if it’s “just a PDF”
• Stick to trusted tools, open source, or offline options, as are probably safest
• If something feels off, reset passwords and check for unusual activity
• And if your PDF looks great and your desktop starts acting strange… maybe don’t open the next one

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**So yes, your file converted perfectly.

But the malware probably wasn’t in the spec.**