Post by Rob W. Case on Apr 11, 2011 22:20:46 GMT -6
Once again, there is yet another scam circulating the internet. It escapes being identified as spam because it hides under a valid e-mail address of a friend or relative. A family member of mine had this happen to him this past Saturday. While he was asleep, everyone on his e-mail address book was sent an e-mail under his valid e-mail address. Within the e-mail was a web-link and nothing more.
Beware of what you open because it may be harmful to your computer. When attention was drawn to it, my brother sent everyone on his contact list an e-mail warning them not to click on the link.
Where does the link Lead?
The link opens your computer up to a virus/malworm which collects data, sends such links to everyone on your contact list, and if opened by anyone, collects all e-mail addresses located on their contact list, and sends them a link, collecting data from those non-suspecting, and trusting the source, and so on and so on. The scam is designed to collect data from people’s computers.
How to Discern this problem:
The most distinct way to discern this problem is to see only a weblink and nothing more. If a friend of yours is sending you a message with a link, most likely, he would (or should) send you a link with a greeting, a description of where the link is sending you, and a closing. But this fake e-mail doesn’t. It just sends you a link and nothing else. And the worse thing about it is, the person whose e-mail is being exploited is not aware that any of this activity is going on unless someone notifies him.
How Common Is It?
I wasn’t really aware how common it is, until I realized that the father of a good friend of mine “sent” me several e-mails with just a link in it. Suspicious of the fact that “he” did not explain what it was, or at least type his name at the bottom of the e-mail, I deleted it, assuming that it was a link to something “racy.” But in recalling that, I realized that he was a victim of that scheme as well.
What do Do:
If you open an e-mail and see just a link and nothing else, notify the person who genuinely owns that e-mail address. Ask that person if they sent you something, and if they did, have them describe it for you. If they did not send it to you, let the person know that his e-mail address was compromised and used as an accomplice to a data-collecting scam. Have him change the password to his e-mail address immediately.
This data-collecting scam has the potential to do a lot of damage, raise suspicion, and can even slander a person’s reputation with the people that person stays in contact with. All in all, it is vital that you know what was sent to you and from whom.
Beware of what you open because it may be harmful to your computer. When attention was drawn to it, my brother sent everyone on his contact list an e-mail warning them not to click on the link.
Where does the link Lead?
The link opens your computer up to a virus/malworm which collects data, sends such links to everyone on your contact list, and if opened by anyone, collects all e-mail addresses located on their contact list, and sends them a link, collecting data from those non-suspecting, and trusting the source, and so on and so on. The scam is designed to collect data from people’s computers.
How to Discern this problem:
The most distinct way to discern this problem is to see only a weblink and nothing more. If a friend of yours is sending you a message with a link, most likely, he would (or should) send you a link with a greeting, a description of where the link is sending you, and a closing. But this fake e-mail doesn’t. It just sends you a link and nothing else. And the worse thing about it is, the person whose e-mail is being exploited is not aware that any of this activity is going on unless someone notifies him.
How Common Is It?
I wasn’t really aware how common it is, until I realized that the father of a good friend of mine “sent” me several e-mails with just a link in it. Suspicious of the fact that “he” did not explain what it was, or at least type his name at the bottom of the e-mail, I deleted it, assuming that it was a link to something “racy.” But in recalling that, I realized that he was a victim of that scheme as well.
What do Do:
If you open an e-mail and see just a link and nothing else, notify the person who genuinely owns that e-mail address. Ask that person if they sent you something, and if they did, have them describe it for you. If they did not send it to you, let the person know that his e-mail address was compromised and used as an accomplice to a data-collecting scam. Have him change the password to his e-mail address immediately.
This data-collecting scam has the potential to do a lot of damage, raise suspicion, and can even slander a person’s reputation with the people that person stays in contact with. All in all, it is vital that you know what was sent to you and from whom.