Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned of
an email scam that pretends to come from the Scottish Minister for
Culture, Tourism and Sport.
The emails, which have the subject line "Greetings from
Scotland.", have been spammed out to internet users claiming to
come from Patricia Ferguson, a member of the Scottish Parliament.
The emails requests the recipient's help in moving $40 million out
of the United Kingdom "for safekeeping" and contain links to the
MSP's personal website.
However, Sophos warns computer users that this is a ruse to
steal personal details, and that the fraudsters behind the scam
campaign can use such information to steal money from bank accounts
and commit identity fraud.
The scam email claims to come the Scottish
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport.
Part of the email reads as follows:
I am Patricia Ferguson, Member of the Scottish
Parliament(MSP) and the Scottish minister for culture, tourism and
sport, my contact with you via this mail is as a matter of urgency
and absolute confidentiality. This is by virtue of my status as a
Member of the Scottish Parliament and particularly as the scottish
minister for culture, tourism and sport.
I have executed a lot of project and contracts; i have also
invested a lot in stock and shares in long-term basis. The benefit
derived from the over estimated and invoiced contract, as well as
the stock and shares amounted to forty million united states
dollars (US$40, 000, 000) which i presently bank with "BARCLAYS
BANK PLC" in my name(Patricia Ferguson MSP) and my reason for
writting this letter is to pass this very professional brief to
you, asking for your partnership in re-profiling, investment and
securing this US$40 million outside the United-Kingdom for
safekeeping this is because of my status as an MSP(Member of the
Scottish Parliament) and particularly as the Scottish Minister for
culture, tourism and sport; and to avoid been questioned by the
british government.
"Not only are these scammers sullying the name of Patricia
Ferguson, but they are also trying to take advantage of people's
temptation to earn a small fortune for little effort. Internet
criminals use a wide variety of tricks to try and steal sensitive
data from computer users in their attempts to empty the public's
bank accounts," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "Email users should be on their
guard not to believe everything they receive via email, and think
before sharing their personal information with others."
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 space station.
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.