Spam Mails Luring to Bogus OS, Browser Survey Spotted

Security researchers recently found a spate of spam mails crafted for enticing end-users towards accessing one fake operating system and browser questionnaire through an online survey. The spammers, with this, actually want to so deceive the end-users that they'll willingly pay for SMS services claimed in the messages, published softpedia.com dated July 1, 2013.

The researchers state that the scam electronic mails promise various rewards, like gift cards from Walmart.

Once clicked, the web-links embedded on the spam mails lead users onto a site which produces the survey for the users to fill in.

Depending on what OS and Web-browser are being used on the target system, the exact text and look of the fake web-page emerges.

The fraudulent site further tries to appear increasingly lawful, so it tells the user his place of current operation. This is done through ascertaining to the victim else her/his ISP about their region's name through the Internet Protocol of the PC.

And when any victim completes the short and irrelevant questionnaire regarding details of the browser he's utilizing, he'll get asked for his cell-phone number to be filled inside a form that will be put into the lottery game for drawing the prize winner's name.

Security analysts of the currently going e-mail spam remark that the cell-phone numbers that Internauts provide actually result in signing in for a ridiculously costly SMS service, which's charged at plenty of USDs for every text message dispatched along with a fee for joining the same. These SMS subscriptions require insurmountable effort for unsubscribing from, while over the period, huge bills get charged. While the scammers' objective is for having end-users sign in, the survey too is designed for merely enticing them towards accessing the SMS signing-in website.

The analysts therefore add that anyone encountering such survey websites must overlook them, while providing his cell-phone number on any dubious site can help the scammers to utilize it to carry out different malicious activities.

Besides, incase anybody thinks he's been victimized with the scam, he should immediately inform his mobile-phone provider for cross-checking the charges that may've occurred, the researchers recommend.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/5/2013