Mispadu / URSA
Mispadu (canonical ESET naming per November 2019 "Advertisement for a discounted Unhappy Meal" disclosure.
also known as URSA per industry alternative naming + SCILabs Mexico canonical tracking) is a Brazilian-origin banking trojan + infostealer active since 2019, operated by Malteiro cybercriminal group via Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) business model per SCILabs Mexico canonical Cyber Threat Profile MALTEIRO (late 2021)
Brazilian-origin organized cybercrime attribution via ESET canonical November 2019 first documentation ("ESET identifies Latin American banking trojan, Mispadu, targeting victims with malicious Facebook ads" + "Mispadu: Advertisement for a discounted Unhappy Meal") + ESET Dirty Dozen canonical December 15, 2021 retrospective "The Dirty Dozen of Latin America: From Amavaldo to Zumanek" + Morphisec Labs canonical April 2025 European expansion disclosure + SCILabs Mexico canonical Malteiro attribution + Trend Micro detection TrojanSpy.Win32.MISPADU.THIADBO.
standalone malware platform cluster paralleling javali + melcoz + casbaneiro in v0.1.139 LATAM banking trojan operators cell expansion.
operational target profile Brazil + Mexico (primary post-2021 per ESET telemetry shift "Mispadu seems to have shifted its focus almost exclusively to Mexico, occasionally accompanied by Casbaneiro and Grandoreiro") + Spain + Portugal + Peru + Argentina + European countries (secondary 2024+ expansion per Morphisec finance + services + motor vehicle manufacturing + law firms + commercial facilities)
operational attack architecture: (1) dual distribution via spam + Facebook malvertising, per ESET: "two different distribution methods - spam and malvertising. While the former is common among Latin American banking trojans, the latter is quite rare".
(2) cluster- defining Facebook sponsored advertisements with fake McDonald's discount coupons (ESET title pun "Advertisement for a discounted Unhappy Meal"), distinctive among LATAM banking trojans.
(3) ZIP archive containing MSI installer masquerading as discount coupon download.
(4) 3-script chain post- MSI execution resulting in Mispadu banking trojan download + execution.
(5) cluster-defining 4 modified PUAs (potentially unwanted applications) for credential extraction ("The trojan uses four potentially unwanted applications, all modified copies of legitimate software, to extract the victim's stored credentials from web browsers and email clients" per ESET)
(6) cluster-defining malicious "Protect your Chrome" Google Chrome extension for credit card + online banking + Boleto Brazilian payment system theft per ESET ("In Brazil, Mispadu has been seen also distributing an interesting, malicious Google Chrome extension. The extension claims to 'Protect your Chrome,' but instead it attempts to steal credit card and online banking data, and can even compromise Boleto, a popular payment system in Brazil that uses a barcode-based payment system")
(7) cluster- defining Boleto Brazilian payment system targeting Brazilian-specific barcode-based payment compromise; (8) fake banking pop-up overlay credential capture typical LATAM banking trojan tradecraft + backdoor functionality + screenshots + mouse/keyboard simulation + keystroke capture.
(9) bitcoin wallet clipboard replacement hijack cluster-cell coherent with v0.1.133 grandoreiro.yaml + Melcoz + Casbaneiro crypto theft tradecraft.
(10) VBS-based update mechanism per PCRisk.
Malteiro cybercriminal group MaaS business model signature per SCILabs ("This malware originated in Brazil, and according to our investigations, the Malteiro cybercriminal group is operating, managing, and distributing the trojan using the Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) business model")
Delphi programming language origin signature typical LATAM banking trojan codebase; 2024+ European expansion per Morphisec Labs April 2025 "Breaking Boundaries: Mispadu's Infiltration Beyond LATAM", "Initially concentrated on LATAM countries and Spanish-speaking individuals, Mispadu has broadened its scope in the latest campaign... now targeting diverse regions, including European countries... Despite the geographic expansion, Mexico remains the primary target"; cluster fills the Facebook-malvertising + Malteiro- MaaS + Chrome-extension + Boleto-payment-targeting + European-expansion position in Latin American banking trojan operators cell.
canonical illustration of Facebook malvertising tradecraft + Malteiro MaaS cybercriminal group + malicious Chrome extension + Brazilian Boleto payment system targeting cited in essentially all subsequent Latin American banking trojan + infostealer industry analyses through 2019-2026 period.