Online Scammers Defraud World Cup Supporters

According to McAfee, an Internet security company, cyber-criminals are extensively exploiting the thrill surrounding the FIFA World Cup soccer game, going on in South Africa, for defrauding sports enthusiasts into handing over their hard-earned cash.

The report says that the new phishing e-mail scam that McAfee spotted employs a lottery concept for duping the recipient into trusting that he is the winner of nearly US$1 Million in certain weekly promotion.

Astonishingly, the early part of the e-mail doesn't request for the typical things which phishing scams demand like payment card number, PIN number, CVV, etc. This the fraudsters have done possibly to give the scam a legitimate appearance in anticipation that the absence of such requests up-front will make the user reply back with a given form duly filled in. Indeed, even if not for anything else, the user may comply with the instructions only to douse personal curiosity.

Nevertheless, the scammers do request something and that's the user's mobile number, which may later result in more inbound junk messages into that person's cell-phone because of the information he dispatched through e-mail.

In the meantime, a few of the headers that cyber crooks are exploiting are "Claim your FIFA World Cup football award/ticket," "South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup lottery promotion," among many others, reports McAfee.

Moreover, cyber-criminals are distributing these phishing messages across the Web like wildfire, something that security watchdogs sensed prior to the start of this sporting event. They had also cautioned people that FIFA prize draw, lottery, or competition e-frauds would possibly grow plentifully as soon as the World Cup would begin. Indeed, FIFA on its part cautioned against scammers through an e-mail notice, one rather common e-mail which had been sent out before each World Cup in the recent past. Similarly, Better Business Bureau as well had issued an alert of similar kind.

Further, Symantec another security company had established one website that runs uninterrupted, aimed at tracing football fans and alert them of online threats related to the World Cup when they emerge. However, all these efforts now seem to be in vain.

Related article: Online Card Fraud Shows Greater Tendency Than Chip and Pin

» SPAMfighter News - 6/25/2010