Dating Spam Deceives Users with Fake AdvertisementAccording to the Internet security company 'Trend Micro', it has been found that spam mails inviting for a date are on an increase. These e-mails, says the company, typically tell the recipient that the sender is an admirer of the recipient and so he is e-mailing his profile to her. The spam mail contains a link to an adult-dating web-page that displays a woman's pictures along with a profile and a big ad that directs the user to click it for a free chat. However, when the user clicks on the link, a page opens prompting him to provide his e-mail ID and password for registration. Thereafter, a new site opens in the browser that asks the visitor to set up a chat account username. Researchers state that the solicitations for information from the user do not finish here. Another page on the new site asks for other personal details of the user. Finally, a request is made for credit card details even after the statement that there are no charges for chatting. To defend this, the site states that the credit card information is required so that minors do not attempt at logging in. Meanwhile, users who are tempted to enjoy the site provide the information as asked. They open doors for cyber criminals and their activities by disclosing personal passwords, e-mail IDs and credit card details. The current simplified method that the spammers are using to extract information from users could imply two things. One that spammers are exhausted of novel and complex ideas, and two the method continues to prove effective in spite of its simplicity. Online dating provides great enthusiasm to numerous Internet surfers and it is a huge commercial industry as well. However, it creates immense opportunities for dating fraud, with new sophisticated dating scams increasing rapidly alongside traditional ones. In its June 2009 Spam Report, security company 'Symantec' indicated that a spam attack against Twitter users involved the Datetwit dating site in which users were asked for their Twitter credentials for accessing Datetwit. Related article: Dating Site Hacker’s Date With Jail For 8 Months » SPAMfighter News - 6/29/2009 |
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