14 DAY TRIAL // Spammers have turned to a somewhat clever method to distribute their scammy messages. Sophos experts came across an email that was sent via The Daily Mail’s “Share” feature.
The email in question looks something like this:
“My Name is Mrs.Naomi Elvis Michael.Pls i want you to reply me back as soon as possible because i want to discuss something important with you,i wants to entrust $12.7 mill to your hand for charity work,waiting your reply for more info about this fund,Mrs.Naomi Elvis Michael Friends to go separate ways
The next series of Friends will be the last, David Schwimmer announced yesterday. He said: 'It's sad but enough is enough. We have all agreed this will be the final year.'
Full Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-54127/Friends-separate-ways.html”
At first sight, the message looks very confusing. Someone wants to give the recipient millions of dollars, but what does the Friends TV series have to do with it?
As Sophos’ Graham Cluley highlights, the email was actually sent by using The Daily Mail’s “Email this article to a friend” feature.
Mrs Naomi Elvis Michael, aka the scam artist, used the “introduction message” text box to write down her part. The rest of the email, which is properly written, was automatically included by The Daily Mail.
The website relies on the CAPTCHA system to ensure spammers don’t abuse their services, but as experts emphasize, this doesn’t always work.
The fact that cybercrooks have turned to this clever technique to distribute their scams shows that the old tactics might not be as efficient as they once were. However, such schemes are far from being completely eradicated.
That’s why users are strongly encouraged to properly check out an email before responding to it. In such cases, you can not only compromise your personal details, but the scammers will likely try to convince you to send them some money.