Fake E-mails Hit Netizens in US Counties

Tehama County (Northern Carolina, US) officials are warning Internet users to be cautious of a new scam campaign that is currently in circulation.

The officials said that they have witnessed a surge in fake emails. Among these emails, there's a mass e-mail that notifies credit card holders of Bank of America that their credit cards were blocked because of some unusual activity.

In this regard, Sheriff Clay Parker of Tehama County said that the most important thing is that even if it appears legitimate, email recipient should use a phone directory and call the alleged agency; the contact number given in the scammed email should not be used, as per the news published by khsltv.com in the first week of June 2010. If nothing works, contact the law enforcement agency, he said.

Parker also advised to carefully look at the font of the email or the scammed document. In case it doesn't resemble the font on the official logo or the letterhead, it's most probably a phishing scam.

Tehama County is not alone to be targeted by the scammers as similar attacks are also being reported from Lee County (Florida, US).

The Sheriff's Office Fraud Line in Lee County has received several calls from residents whose address book or contacts on social networking websites like Facebook have been hacked.

The Internet fraudster, pretending to be the user, uses his stolen e-mail address book and sends a message that while he was in some foreign country, an unfortunate episode took place with him and so he's in need of money to return to the US. The email asks the recipients to send money via Moneygram or Western Union.

Security experts said that an important reason for the huge success of these phishing scams is that majority of them originate in foreign countries, which makes them difficult to trace. Another reason is that there are a number of variations of the same email scam.

Therefore, to keep away such attacks, security experts urge users to get spam blockers or filters installed on their PCs. They should also be alert of the modern day cyber attacks.

Related article: Fake Spam Mail Announces Australian PM’s Heart Attack

» SPAMfighter News - 6/22/2010