Dubai Netizens Foxed with Vicious E-mails from Soft Drink Company

Dubai residents are being warned by the police to be watchful of the new e-mail scam which is trying to entice them into revealing their banking and personal details. The e-mail claims to be from a soft drink giant.

The company noted that the claims made by the e-mail are completely baseless. The e-mail declares the recipient as a fortunate winner of cash prizes or a sweepstake from the company.

The fake e-mail directs the unwary recipient to a fake company website, which appears authentic, as reported by khaleejtimes.com on April 22, 2010.

The messages in the e-mail are written in formal language to give them an official look. Sometimes, these messages are well crafted to give readers an official feel by including photographs or images, a ticket/reference number, a 'secret pin code' or contact details supposedly of the representative of the company.

The software giant completely denied of any relation with the latest scam e-mails, illegal websites or programs, letters or text messages.

The company said that this e-mail scam seems to be a kind of Internet fraud called 'phishing'. Experts define phishing as an e-mail hoax wherein the scammer circulates authentic looking e-mails in a bid to collect recipients' financial and personal information. Typically, these e-mails seem to be coming from trustworthy and well-known websites like the website of soft drink giant in this case.

Sadly, Dubai is not facing phishing e-mail scam for the first time. In the initial days of April 2010, the victims of fraud in Dubai lost almost Dh128,500 (US$35,000) from their bank accounts with Mashreq bank. These victims demanded compensation after the Internet fraudsters laundered their savings.

Consequently, considering this upsurge, experts recommend the Dubai netizens to follow some simple security tips. Firstly, if an e-mail asks for personal information like passwords, credit card number, etc., then the user must ensure that the URL starts with "https", where 's' signifies security. He must also ensure that there is a padlock icon in the browser's lower-right corner.

The experts recommended users to think twice before revealing such confidential information if e-mails are too realistic to believe. Also it's best to reset passwords every three months, and avoid using the same password for various accounts.

Related article: DBA Pleads Guilty of Stealing Certegy Customer Records

» SPAMfighter News - 5/3/2010