Phishing E-mail Targets O2 Clients

During the 2nd week of July 2012, numerous O2 clients within United Kingdom were blighted with problems affecting the network that seemingly gave an opportunity to hackers towards attempting at stealing the consumers' account accessing credentials, published IT Pro dated July 13, 2012.

Reading the news (from IT Pro), one reader forwarded a particular e-mail he got on July 12, 2012, supposedly dispatched from the O2 group, telling him regarding the latest development with the company's troubled network.

Strangely, this very reader doesn't have any account with O2.

However, in conclusion the phishing e-mail advised recipients in a rather badly crafted message to go to one website and make their O2 a/c details up-to-date citing security reasons.

It stated that while O2 was doing an upgrade it had started one fresh Internet security incorporated into its online facility for safeguarding its users' data. Thus, it was being urged that all O2 consumers safeguard their accounts via following a given web-link, the e-mail added.

Thus, following the web-link led end-users onto a page where they could log into the "O2 Security Update."

Meanwhile O2 wasn't there for substantiating the assault's news; however, David Emm Security Researcher from Kaspersky stated that the assault clearly matched a cyber-criminal style of phishing attack. Theinquirer.net published this dated July 13, 2012.

Emm said that it was common to have phishers and spammers exploit any newsworthy story such as a prominent sporting event, natural calamity, or latest celebrity gossip, etc. According to him, they sought to benefit from such stories via making Internauts answer their spam mails.

Elsewhere Emm described how the latest O2 outage appeared as getting to be an opportunity for cyber-crooks to start off their activities. They dispatched e-mails posing as from O2 while directed consumers towards hitting a web-link followed with logging into their accounts for enabling fresh security measures which would help them return to the Net, he continued. V3.co.uk published this dated July 13, 2012.

But, stated Emm, the web-link sadly didn't lead onto the O2 site instead took onto a cyber-criminals crafted fake site where they seized the user's login particulars.

Related article: Phishing Attacks, Growing in Sophistication

» SPAMfighter News - 7/21/2012