Phishing with Swine Flu as bait [CNET News]
The outbreak of swine flu has many people concerned, and it also has spam email scammers working overtime to prey on the public's fear of the virus. CNET profiles three scam emails that purport to offer information about the swine flu, but are masquerading malicious code. Two of the emails are phishing emails with links to web sites that ask the user to complete a form with personal information. The third contains a PDF document that is entitled "Swine influenza frequently asked questions.pdf." The document contains malicious code that installs a keyboard sniffer on any user's computer on which the document is opened. The sniffer records the user's keystrokes, stealing personal and financial information.
Also, according to this article, spam preying on the fear of swine flu accounted for 4 percent of global spam yesterday. If you need information about the flu virus, the most up-to-date information is available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control web site. Never rely on unsolicited email to provide information about breaking news events, as it has a high likelihood of containing attachments or links that contain malicious programs.
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