14 DAY TRIAL // A new email scam is making the rounds in the US, and it involves speeding ticket citations sent via email to random drivers, containing actual GPS and traffic route information.
Police in Tredyffrin, Pennsylvania, are warning local drivers about this scam, saying first and foremost that police departments never send speeding tickets citations via email.
This scam was brought to their attention last week, when a local business' employee received one such alert via email.
The curious thing is that the scammer's message contained actual traffic route information, along with the user's personal details.
"Due to the fact this scam had correct information with respect to speed, time and location, it is highly suspected that a 'free mobility or traffic APP' may have been utilized/hacked for this scam," the Tredyffrin Police Department wrote on the Chester County portal.
Hacked app or exposed database?
In recent years, applications that request "kitchen sink" permissions have multiplied. Exactly which app, based on the data contained in the scam message, is anyone's guess.
A hacked app or an exposed MongoDB server, like in the case of the Kinoptic iOS app, is a scenario that doesn't look that too far-fetched these days.
The scam email also entices users to open a file attachment to view their speeding ticket. While no malware was distributed in this scam, the police are advising users not to engage in this sort of emails, since future versions may also contain malware like banking trojans, spyware, keyloggers, backdoor trojans, or even ransomware.
For this particular case, the receivers of the email were asked to pay a fine within five days on a website controlled by the attacker. All these emails came from the [email protected] address.
You can view the template of such scam emails below, with all the sensitive information removed.
