As Holidays Approach, Spam Mails Start Circulating

Security researchers are cautioning users that spammers are distributing junk e-mails for selling replica watches, bogus pills, bags and jewelry while preparing to exploit the upcoming vacation. Help Net Security published this on November 15, 2010.

The alert became evident while the researchers noticed that during such vacations not only were drugs for male enhancement promoted but also gift items befitting the holiday were advertised, both apparently in massive discounts.

Say the researchers at Trend Micro, cyber-criminals by taking advantage of the approaching Christmas and Black Friday holidays are hastily providing their wares so that more-and-more holiday shoppers who buy online may get trapped into the fraudsters' tricks.

Additionally, security investigators caution that in case anyone shopping online makes payment through PayPal, he should be careful since the website has been attacked for phishing ventures. TechWorld reported this on November 17, 2010.

In the meantime, according to McAfee, the highly demanded free e-cards are also being utilized for duping end-users into giving away personal information. Softpedia published this on November 16, 2010.

Furthermore, advance-fee scams too are doing the rounds, researchers warn. These scams involve e-mails apparently from friends who allege that they are stuck therefore urgently require financial help for returning home. Other scams in circulation relate to bogus job opportunities, dubious vacation rentals, recession and fake charity, risky holiday-themed downloads, bogus e-greeting cards, SMS phishing attacks, and low price ruses.

Consequently, security researchers recommend that end-users mustn't get swayed with the offers for things that may appear attractive, as the messages making the offers are often malicious spam designed for deceiving and grabbing people's private data. Additionally, when anyone opens an unsolicited junk e-mail, the same electronic mail will get distributed among all the e-mail ids on the user's address book thus pulling more people into the spammer's ploy.

Other security investigators too caution that spam mails advertising yet other stuff will begin arriving during the year-end. Hence users must make sure that they don't trust each and every e-mail that arrives in their mailbox as also certainly delete them immediately when they make their way into the inboxes.

Related article: Asia the new breeding ground for spam

» SPAMfighter News - 11/24/2010