14 DAY TRIAL // Scammers came up with new techniques of masking a classic 419 scam. The latest methods imply that the actual message, the one that promises tens of millions from diamond mines and banks from Africa, is hidden in an archived text file that comes attached to the email.
“This is a confidential message, please kindly view the attached message below and get in touch with him ASAP,” reads a message allegedly coming from Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Appriver reports that the zip file that’s attached to the email is not a malicious virus as everyone might suspect, instead, it’s a simple text document that reveals an untrue story about a few millions that are about to be transferred from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the recipient.
Spammers will use this technique, of hiding documents in other files, to evade spam filters that target precisely these types of messages.
“I wish to use this medium and my office to inform you that your CONTRACT/INHERITANCE Payment of USD10,500,000.00 only from CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA has been RELEASED and APPROVED for onward transfer to you via ATM CARD which you will use in withdrawing your funds in any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world, but the maximum you can withdraw in a day is USD$10,000 Only,” reads part of the phony message.
The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter if millions of dollars are offered to you for free in an email, in a text file or even on a site that perfectly replicates a legitimate website, in all the situations recipients are advised to avoid these fake promises.
Today it’s Hillary Clinton, tomorrow it may be President Obama claiming that his predecessors left him a diamond mine that he wants to share. No matter how realistic it looks, it never actually is.