Phishers Using Logo of Norton Antivirus within Fake E-mails, Caution Security Experts

According to security researchers, Internauts should be wary of a phishing electronic mail that carries Norton Antivirus' logo while poses as a message from the company's admin, reported softpedia.com dated December 10, 2014.

A false assertion made in the e-mail tells the recipient that his account has been sending out malware onto the sender's machine and warns that if the virus problem isn't resolved, the user's e-mail A/C will be suspended forever.

The e-mail directs that the user must immediately follow a given web-link for executing a scan as also cleaning his e-mail account.

But, everything asserted within the e-mail is totally false and has been resorted to for deceiving the user into divulging his account login credentials for the benefit of the scammers.

Actually, following the web-link leads one onto a fake web-page of Norton Antivirus which contains one bogus login box. Inside this box subsequently, the victim is directed for logging in while providing his e-mail id along with password for executing the scan spanning 30-secs.

So, if the log-in procedure is done, a message -"Please wait-scanning" would get exhibited spanning some seconds. Eventually, another message -"Scan Complete" would appear. Now, the victim is likely to believe his computer is sanitized off the viruses.

In the meantime, the scammers may gather the user's login credentials followed with compromising his e-mail account. They may then utilize the account to distribute bulk e-mails which would elude the anti-spam solutions.

Researchers report the above phishing scam isn't happening for fresh since after its first emergence back in 2013 beginning, its continuation has been ongoing.

Clues abound that are suggestive of the deceit. First, the e-mail sender's details are vague. Genuine entities present their identity unambiguously, especially for deterring malevolent third-parties from attempting impersonation. Besides, they would use recipient's name directly for addressing him - name obtainable from the subscription details.

Now, incase none of the above clues stand out, while instructions in the message are fulfilled, checking the URL inside the Web browsers' address bar can help i.e. incase the URL doesn't correspond with the sender's particulars in that situation a fraud definitely is developing, the researchers conclude.

» SPAMfighter News - 12/19/2014