Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office is once again the target of criminal forces in the Internet.

Spam e-mail allegedly sent by the police office is making the rounds in the German-speaking region of Europe. The e-mail contains an attachment with malware that has yet to be classified and is thus slipping by some antivirus programs, according to the BKA Web site.

The subject line of the e-mail reads "Ermittlungsverfahren," or investigation. Recipients are informed that they face charges and should open the attached document, fill it out and return to the police office.

Once opened, the malicious code affects some undisclosed functions of the user's PC and sends itself to the addresses listed in the user's address book.

Telephone lines at the BKA were largely blocked Thursday as numerous recipients of the malicious spam called a telephone number listed in the e-mail that is the main number of the police's press office.

In November, the BKA was the target of a similar malicious spam attack. This one involved an attachment with a worm also designed to automatically send itself to the addresses listed in the computer user's address book.

The BKA urges PC users to delete the spam e-mail without opening it and to update their antivirus software.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.