Symantec Says that Scam Emails Mimicking 123greetings.com Currently Spreading

Security experts of security firm Symantec says that a scam email purporting to be from a renowned e-card website 123greetings.com directs Internauts to a "get rich quick" site via a Google shortened URL.

The e-message is simple and tells the Internaut to click on the shortened URL to see the e-card. However, the address leads to a website which imitates the appearance of the genuine 123greetings.com.

Instead of an e-greeting card, the visitors are informed that by investing $97/71EUR they can earn no less than $5,000 (3,671 EUR) by the week's end and the money invested can be recovered within an hour.

Researchers of Symantec analyzed the scam email and judged by its header that the email seemed to be sent from an IP address belonging to Amazon. Moreover, spoofing the sending address of the electronic card website could convince the users that this is not a scam email.

The Internaut is not directed to sign-up immediately even if the link is shown on the web page.

The spammer first asks the user for his/her contact details and then the user is convinced to pay and take part in the alleged scheme through automated telephone messages or more emails. As an extra bonus, the spammer may use the contact details of the user to attack him/her with more spam.

Interestingly, Symantec researchers have also identified spam emails with little difference from the above discussed campaign as e-card link directs users to a fake BBC news article.

The fake news article announces that the user will get more than US$8,000 in a month by paying $97 in advance. The site also contains links to news article hosted on the legitimate website of BBC news to make the scam look genuine.

The spammer is again trying to convince the user that this scam is genuine before he redirects the user to the "get rich quick."

Symantec advises users to be careful on receipt of unsolicited, unexpected or suspicious emails of the above type and says to simply delete them.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/1/2014