Cyber-criminals Repeatedly Hit Delta Airlines with Malicious E-mails

According to the cyber-security experts, Internet fraudsters, during March 2010, attacked Delta Airlines with malicious e-mails.

While being circulated worldwide, a sample of the e-mails begins by thanking the recipient for using the airlines' just introduced services. It then suggests for the purchase of an air ticket through the company's website. Furthermore, the e-mail states that an account for the recipient has been opened whose password and login details are also provided. Also, a $998.63 charge has been made against the user's credit card. Lastly, the message says that there's a 10% discount on every ticket ordered through the airlines' website.

At the bottom of its text, the e-mail also provides an attachment apparently containing the plane ticket and invoice. Here, the recipient is asked to take a print out of the document so that he can utilize his ticket and start off a journey.

Senior Technology Consultant at Sophos, Graham Cluley, reasons out in his blog that the recipient may open up the attachment out of anxiety, even though any ticket is not booked by him/her. Cluley asserts that this'll be so when the user finds such a huge sum mentioned as charges on his credit card, as reported by Sophos.com on March 29, 2010.

Meanwhile, the e-mail attack prompted Delta Airlines to act for its defense. So, the famous carrier issued a formal notification via its website confirming that the e-mails were a hoax since the Airlines never sent them. It also assured customers through the same channel that their private details stored with Delta in its files like SkyMiles Profile weren't compromised on account of the incident.

The Airlines hence advised its customers that they must not follow any Web-link or view any attachment given inside the spam e-mails. Rather, they shall just erase those e-mails instantly.

Besides, experts have also advised users to deploy anti-malware solutions and spam filters on their systems, so these harmful e-mails wouldn't enter their inboxes at the very outset. This will stop users from being foxed, they reiterated.

Finally, Computer Associates, a security firm, recently reported about yet another airplane ticket spam e-mail of similar kind. Experts noted that all these suggest that the con artists are repeating their old ruse.

Related article: Cyber Child abuser Sentenced To Imprisonment

» SPAMfighter News - 4/8/2010