Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have stopped
hundreds of messages related to an email scam that attempts to fool
computer users into participating in a bogus business deal with a
US military sergeant based in Baghdad.
The emails, which claim to come from Sgt Richard Murphy based in
Iraq, offer 50% of a claimed $15 million fortune. In a message
reminiscent of the George Clooney Gulf War movie "Three Kings", the
sergeant is looking for assistance to move the money out of the
war-torn country.
However, Sophos warns computer users that the emails are a ruse
to steal money and personal details from people who respond to the
message.
The emails, which have the subject line "Urgent and
Confidential from Sgt Richard Murphy." start with the
following text:
I hope my email meets you well. I am in need of your
assistance. My name is Sgt Richard Murphy, I am in the Military
Engineering Unit here Baghdad, Iraq. We have about $15 Million US
dollars that we want to move out of the country. My colleagues and
I need a good partner, someone we can trust. This is a risk free
and legal business (oil money).
The scam email claims to come from a member of
the US military in Iraq.
"With so many of these scam emails being sent to internet users
every day, it's hard to believe that anyone falls for these
confidence tricks. But innocent people are at risk of putting their
finances in danger if they correspond with scammers such as this,
and everyone with an email address should be on their guard," said
Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It's time everybody
learned not to believe everything they receive via email, and
ensure that they have up-to-date spam defenses in place."
This email con-trick is the latest of many 419 scams. These
scams are named after the relevant section of the Nigerian penal
code where many of the scams originated and are unsolicited emails
where the author offers a large amount of money. Once a victim has
been drawn in, requests are made from the fraudster for private
information which may lead to requests for money, stolen
identities, and financial theft.
Other examples of 419 email scams include a message claiming to
come from a persecuted widow of the late Nigerian head of state, an
associate of the massacred Nepalese royal family, and even an
African astronaut stranded on the Mir spacestation.
Sophos recommends companies automatically update their corporate
virus protection, and run a consolidated
solution at the email gateway to defend against viruses and
spam.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.