Phishers Get Busy In The Run Up To Christmas

According to BKAV an Internet security company based in Hanoi, more than 3,000 Vietnamese people's e-mail passwords were compromised during December 7-9, 2010 with an enticing e-mail that carried the subject line "Christmas Present."

Evidently, the company noticed that bulk e-mails named "Christmas Gifts" targeted people's inboxes. But, these were actually frauds for obtaining e-mail passwords for Gmail or Yahoo accounts. The e-mails duped people in numerous instances therefore Internet users must remain extremely watchful, BKAV recommends.

Moreover, the text in the scam e-mails while wishing the recipients Merry Christmas, talks about small sized Christmas presents. There's also a web-link embedded that leads onto http://vn [removed] day.com / chuc mung- -giang-sinh.php, which contains content that the user asks for logging into Gmail/Yahoo account for viewing the present.

But, when any user asks for the content, although he gets an e-card, he just doesn't know that hackers have already seized the details regarding his account.

State the security investigators, con artists utilize such accounts for constantly sending fake e-mails to the victims' friends as also do several other damages like altering passwords for compromising user accounts, and stealing or deleting data or vital files kept inside mailboxes.

Cautions BKAV, large numbers of people become victimized with hackers' ruses as the criminals exploit the Christmas season and New Year's time to send bogus e-greeting cards in phishing attacks. Hence, users must exercise great caution with web-links that come through e-mail as also never enter their passwords into sites whose origins are unknown.

Said Network Security Director Nguyen Minh Duc of BKAV, hackers always regarded the Christmas season and New Year's time as opportunities for cashing in on, therefore everybody must remain vigilant and never feed in their passwords to online sites with doubtful origins. Vietnamnet published this on December 14, 2010.

In the meantime, the above attack isn't the lone one of its kind. There are also warnings from other security companies about similar phishing campaigns. Thus, Symantec, a U.S-based security firm has cautioned of an e-mail captioned "Get a Personalized Letter from Santa to Your Child!" that delivers a virus called Erkez.D@mm.

Related article: Phishers Expand Their Sphere of Attacks

» SPAMfighter News - 12/24/2010