BBB Cautions Consumers About Spam Exploiting ‘Swine Flu’

The BBB (Better Business Bureau) is cautioning people to watch out for spam mails exploiting the public's worry regarding the new swine influenza. The agency says that these spam mails could carry viruses or malware, or pose to sell things like vitamins.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve J. Bernas of the BBB, Northern Illinois and Chicago office, states that scammers waste no time in taking advantage of anything that draws people's attention, as reported by Norwich Bulletin on April 29, 2009.

Bernas adds spammers know that any e-mail that highlights an interesting, hot subject would lead many users to click open it. That, according to Bernas, is the right opportunity for fraudsters to thrust an unsolicited marketing e-mail, infect a PC, or phish users off their private information.

The BBB further warned consumers that they should not open e-mails arrived from unfamiliar sources and not to open attachments or click on links given inside of those e-mails. Rather they should delete those messages or inform FTC (Federal Trade Commission) about them by sending the e-mails at spam@uce.gov. Additionally, users could get in touch with the IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) if they receive such unsolicited e-mails.

Besides, BBB also warns users not to trust messages on the Internet offering swine flu vaccines since no vaccine has yet been found. To obtain more details about the swine influenza as well as for updates regarding the headway made in combating the disease, users need to visit the Centers for Disease Control website - www.cdc.gov/swineflu.

In addition, computer users need to ensure their anti-spyware and antivirus software products are up-to-date as well as security patches for operating software are in place.

Meanwhile, researchers at security company McAfee also alerted in the end week of April 2009 that spammers were increasingly focusing to exploit the news of swine flu, with numerous among them attempting to sell bogus medicines.

Further, security provider Symantec says that malware distributors and spammers are attempting to turn the current problem to their maximum advantage by enticing consumers into following links that contain malware.

Related article: BBA Outlines Steps To Ward Off Online Fraud

» SPAMfighter News - 5/7/2009