14 DAY TRIAL // Online identity thieves are trying to profit from the problems that UK citizens are facing because of the global economic turmoil and the accompanying recession. Their new phishing campaign tries to trick users into giving up their personal information in order to benefit from an alleged recession-relief programme fund.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a fraud alert on its website, about this new scheme. According to it, the fake e-mails claim to have been sent by Foreign Secretary David Miliband and their subject is "Global economic crisis relief aid."
"The email asks recipients for their personal details so that they can receive funds from a fictitious recession relief programme fund. This email is a scam." the Foreign Office announces. Additionally, it advises to report such e-mails to local authorities dealing with fraud as well as on the website of the Metropolitan Police.
Rik Ferguson, solutions architect at anti-virus vendor Trend Micro, compares this scheme with a similar one circulating in the US back in January and February that claimed to be a sign-up for Obama's Stimulus Check. However, unlike in this phishing operation, the cybercrooks behind that campaign profited from a legit stimulus bill being introduced.
Mr. Ferguson advises users to "treat all unsolicited (and most solicited) mail as suspicious. Never enter any personal or financial details into any site which has been sent to you over any channel including email, instant message, or web adverts and pop-ups."
"We suggest that you never give out your personal details if you are unsure of the legitimacy of the email," the Foreign Office alert also reads. "The Home Office works closely with the Police and has introduced a number of measures to counter Internet fraud," it adds.
Crybercriminals have a strong history of capitalizing on important global events, holidays, or subjects that are bound to attract a lot of public interest. If something really important happens, you can be sure cybercrooks will jump at the occasion, because increasing the pool of potential victims is vital to the success of their illegal operations.
The difficult financial situation around the world makes no exception to this rule. We recently reported that an e-mail malware distribution campaign had been targeting companies looking for business plans to combat the effects of the economic crisis.