Fake E-mail Notices Masquerade as LinkedIn

Hoax e-mail notices pretending to be from LinkedIn the well-known commercial social-networking website have been detected circulating online while hitting unwitting Internauts, published softpedia.com dated October 17, 2012.

Displaying a header "Invitation," the fake electronic mail informs the recipient that David sent him a message four days back inviting to join the network. He awaits a response as to whether the recipient will or won't accept the invitation.

Notably, there's a web-link too to unsubscribe along with another apparently taking onto additional info regarding the invitation, in the e-mail. Then there's the LinkedIn logo inside the e-mail that makes the message appear quite like an authentic LinkedIn invitation e-mail.

But, the e-mail isn't from LinkedIn. Even its web-links take onto hijacked sites, which aren't at all associated with LinkedIn. When a Web-surfer reaches any of these, he finds a pop-up requesting to hold on while the server is connected. Thereafter, the website diverts to another site which hosts malware.

Like always, this other site contains the BlackHole attack toolkit, which's software for cyber-criminals to abuse security holes in Web-browsers so as to take down and plant malicious programs particularly Trojans, explain security specialists who studied the latest e-mail fraud.

Worryingly, according to these specialists, it's because of the above kinds of malware-laced bulk scam e-mails which have resulted in an unabated rise in malicious software online.

Meanwhile, it isn't new for Internet-users to get attacked with fake e-mails masquerading as communications from LinkedIn. During January 2011, Sophos a security company intercepted dubious-appearing e-mail messages apparently arriving from LinkedIn. Those messages told recipients that they'd receive cash from the social site if they answered a survey, got qualified, etc. Significantly, as per the instructions, there were really 2 online surveys comprising one preliminary survey for determining whether the user really qualified and another, the actual online questionnaire.

Nevertheless, to safeguard oneself from bogus social network notices, one requires examining the authenticity of the URL web-links prior to hitting on them. Moreover, it's important to maintain an updated anti-virus as well as similar OS along with all the remaining crucial items, the specialists suggest.

Related article: Fake-mails Troubling Credit Union Customers

» SPAMfighter News - 10/26/2012