Bogus E-mails Supposedly from Vodafone Notify Users about Exceptionally High Bills
Cyber-criminals are constantly dispatching bogus billing e-mails appearing as messages from Vodafone the popularly accessed telecom firm, while the most recent ones tell recipients they need to pay an unusually high bill, published softpedia.com dated November 22, 2013.
Stating rather spuriously, the bulk e-mails inform that the recipient's current month's bill can now be seen online. The bill amount is 590.59 pounds. Incase it is unlike any previous amount, the reason maybe he used the connection beyond the limited minutes, else sent data/text messages exceeding the plan limit. Alternatively, he called international numbers or to the 08-category. He may've also used his cell-phone outside the country. For details about the plan content and specifications, he may peruse his bill. An attachment is provided in the e-mail from where he can gather additional information, the spam mail concludes.
But, Vodafone hasn't sent the e-mail, while the attachment too isn't any billing statement like asserted. In fact, there's malware hidden inside the attachment. Moreover, according to security analysts, the so-called billing amount is likely to be different within the spam's different forms.
The perpetrators, in the current campaign, maintain hope that some recipients if not many will become panicky on reading the e-mail telling about a large bill and so click on the attachment devoid of second thoughts. Besides, as several service providers presently dispatch statements on bills through e-mail, the current malware-laden electronic mail may seem real, the analysts explain.
The attachment, which contains a zipped file, if opened, reveals one originally-concealed .exe file, which, if run, plants malware onto the user's PC. This malware, characteristically, lets the cyber-criminals dig out the user's financial and/or other personal details from his contaminated system and further give them surreptitious hold over the contaminated PC for its subsequent utilization to carry out sinister activities.
Thus, any e-mail, whatever company name it may reflect, having attachment alternatively web-link taking onto a site that isn't the actual site can be a scam.
Meanwhile, in a similar fake Vodafone e-mail that Dutch Internet-users, during January 2013, got, displayed the caption "You have received a picture message from mobile phone number XXX."
ยป SPAMfighter News - 11/27/2013
