Free Document Converters - Now With Bonus Malware
The FBI warns that some free online converters are more than helpful; they hide malware, steal data, and sometimes drop ransomware.
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
So yes, your file converted perfectly.
But the malware probably wasn’t in the spec.
Thoughts on security, Tools and the occasional rabbit holes.
No spam, no sharing to third party. Only you and me.