Beware of emails that contain attractive offers this Olympics season.
Cyber criminals never miss an opportunity to launch stealth attacks. They use the same old techniques of prize baits but top it with fresh seasonal flavour. This time around they have chosen Olympics season to initiate a fresh malware attack to attract Internet users.
Internet security experts have spotted some spammed messages using the 2012 Olympics as a bait. One email says announces ‘winning notification’, while another pleads for personal details in exchange for a cash prize.
“Users who fall for any of these traps are at risk of having their information stolen or their machines infected with malware. Some spam may even lead to monetary loss,” Mr Amit Nath, Country Manager (India and SAARC) of Trend Micro, said in a statement.
A message announces free tickets for some people. But in order to get those tickets, the mail recipients would have to divulge personal information such as home address, marital status, and even occupation. The scammers might use this information in their future malicious schemes. They may also sell data to other cybercriminal groups.
In other cases, the hackers stealthily send Trojans (detected asTROJ_ARTIEF.ZIGS), leaving the systems open for attacks.