A Phishing Scam With A Malicious Attachment

Email scams generally try to create a sense of urgency, often around money.  They either threaten the recipient with imminent financial loss or offer the promise of immediate financial gain as long as the recipient acts quickly.  This scam takes a more subtle approach by suggesting that the recipient has been confused with some company that can supply a product that Mr. Avila is looking for.  A supposed purchase order is attached and the recipient might well consider looking at it for more information.

Once downloaded and clicked, the attachment displays a web page asking for a username and password.  Whatever is entered, the user will get a message that the entry is invalid.  In the meantime, the entered information will be stored on a remote server (in Nigeria in this particular instance).  Eventually, that server will accumulate a list of account/password pairs from people all over the world.

The moral is: If you aren’t sure what’s in it, don’t click it!

For more information about phishing, visit:https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?id=98136.

If you have received any message similar to the one listed above, please forward it with its headers tosecurity@umbc.edu. For instructions, visit:https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970.

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Receive any suspicious emails?

Forward it to security@umbc.edu along with the email headers. For instructions, visit:https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970.

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