Junk E-mail Scam Attacking Google Docs Detected

Security researchers have detected one fresh spam mail scam that's misusing Google docs while presently circulating online and aiming at unwitting netizens, published Help Net Security in news dated December 12, 2011.

Seemingly, the spam campaign is an old type which has returned in a fresh crafty style. Researcher Elie Bursztein with Stanford University says that spam exploiting Google docs has returned; however, this time it's being spread through e-mails rather than via the sharing facility of Google doc. Elie.im reported this on December 12, 2011.

Significantly, after detecting the fake e-mail scam in question, Bursztein became curious when he found that the spam mail successfully evaded the anti-spam filters of Google followed with reaching the Google mailbox. Wanting to check the destination of the web-link embedded on the spam mail, Bursztein clicked on it and was instantly led onto one unnamed document canvassing novelty/false university degrees and diplomas. Help Net Security reported this.

And as it's with Google Docs, which exhibits as to how many people open a given document; it became evident to Bursztein that plentiful Web surfers were actually conducting a check out of the above document, implying that they all clicked on the web-link.

Bursztein commented that he observed seven more individuals viewing the doc thus it was also evident that the e-mail scam was live and effective. Help Net Security reported this.

Meanwhile, for avoiding becoming a victim of the spam, the researcher states that a person could do 2 things: one put the spam label to the e-mail and secondly put the spam label to the Google document via going to the 'help' segment and opting for the "report abuse."

In the end, spammers using Google docs within their schemes are not unknown. During May 2008, at the yet infancy stage of Google Docs, Symantec Corp.'s subsidiary MessageLabs reportedly discovered junk e-mails, which effectively bypassed the majority of spam filters within enterprises. Moreover, there was no content in those e-mails just one web-link which led recipients onto a Google .doc file that when viewed promoted the quite-known pharmaceuticals that were publicized within several spam campaigns.

» SPAMfighter News - 12/26/2011