Orange ISP Users in Mauritius Cautioned About Phishing E-Mail

Orange, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Mauritius, warned on September 28, 2008 that an e-mail scam was circulating across the net and asking for personal information such as the end-user's user ID, password and his server's name all to facilitate identity theft.

Orange said that since September 26, 2008, many of its users have complained of getting the e-mail apparently arriving from the Helpdesk of the company and using the subject line, "E-mail Server Upgrade."

Also, as per the ISP, the e-mail has the false signature of Sarah Williams who solicits clients to fill in forms. The message pretends that the company is upgrading its server to put up a fresh and improved one; therefore, the notification and request is made.

Further, the e-mail message claims that the details sought would enable the ISP to "upgrade as well as confirm" from the earlier server. It also cautions the e-mail's recipient that account holders who fail to update their account within the time period specified after getting the notification would find the provider's facilities suspended.

However, Orange said that the scam e-mail is a part of the phishing operation running by scammers to collect personal information. Many people have received the e-mail over an extremely short period of time.

The company further cautions customers not to answer the fake e-mail by providing their password as it could help the fraudsters to access their bank accounts.

Furthermore, the technical unit of Orange states that the service provider has already reported the phishing scam to the police and it is conducting a follow-up action to trace the e-mail's origin as well as hunt the e-mail sender's address.

Meanwhile, according to the security specialists, the problem of spamming and phishing is growing in magnitude in Mauritius and a unanimous approach is needed to address it. According to Telecom Plus Ltd., another ISP, approximately 65% of the e-mails it receives are spam, with most of them originating from foreign countries. Also, there is a probability that genuine e-mails from Mauritius to other countries might block.

Related article: Orange Network Runs Into Rough Weather After Hacking

» SPAMfighter News - 10/3/2008