Flood of Spam Spoofing the FBI & IC3

According to a news reported by MediaNewswire on December 11, 2008, spam purportedly using the name of FBI continue to inundate computer users. As with earlier spam attacks, the new versions mention the names of a number of top executive officers within the FBI and also the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in attempts to cheat consumers.

A lot of the spam e-mails currently circulating pose as a official order from the Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division of the FBI. They also pretend to be an official order from an alleged FBI unit in Nigeria, or inform about a lottery draw, or confirm a property inheritance. In all the cases, the messages falsely inform recipients that they have announced the name of beneficiary of huge sums of money.

Security specialists state that to obtain this huge sum, recipients of the fake e-mails are asked to provide their PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and are frequently threatened with penalty like prosecution, if they overlook the instructions. The specific PII information asked normally includes the name of the recipient, telephone number, passport details and banking information.

In a similar way, the spam mail purported to have come from the IC3 accuses the recipient of extorting money and warns that he/she must refund it within a limited period of time or face trial in court.

However, these e-mails are simply a hoax that people must not reply to, said security specialists. They are also advised against opening any link in the e-mails as they might carry viruses.

Besides, there are many signs within the e-mail that confirm that it is not genuine, like the language used is faulty, indicating it is part of a Nigerian 419 scam.

Also, the security specialists reminded that the FBI never sends such kinds of unsolicited e-mails that directly ask for consumers' personal information. Similarly, the IC3 never issues threatening e-mails demanding payments from consumers.

Hence, people are warned to protect their PIIs, sharing could lead to compromise of their identity. Furthermore, if anyone falls victim to any sort of Internet crime, he/she must report it at www.IC3.gov.

Related article: Flawed Symantec Products Could Allow Malicious Code Injection

» SPAMfighter News - 12/19/2008