14 DAY TRIAL // Internet users, particularly ones from the United Kingdom, are advised to be on the lookout for emails that purport to come from the UK Land Registry, the body responsible for registering the ownership of land and property.
According to Hoax Slayer, the emails inform recipients that some fees will be collected by the Land Registry from their accounts.
“This is notification that Land Registry will debit 202.00 GBP from your nominated account on or as soon as possible before 10/09/2013. Details of fees that we shall be collecting by direct debit for the applications charged are now available to view,” the emails read.
“You can access these by opening attached report. If you have an enquiry relating to your VDD account please contact Customer Support at [email protected] or call on 0844 892 1111. For all enquiries, please quote your key number.”
The file that’s attached to these bogus notifications doesn’t hold any information on the alleged fees. Instead, it hides a piece of malware.
The Land Registry is aware of the fake emails that have been making the rounds since around one month ago.
The organization warns customers to beware of “Notification of Direct Debit Fees” emails that carry attachments. Legitimate messages don’t have a zip attachment, the Land Registry’s representatives warn.
“If you have already opened any attachments or clicked on any links then please arrange for a virus scan to be run on your computer,” the Land Registry stated.
Users can find out more about scam and phishing emails that leverage the name and reputation of the Land Registry on a page especially set up for this purpose.
Those who receive such malicious emails are advised to forward them to the following email address: [email protected].