Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned
computer users to be wary of an email claiming to come from a dying
KGB agent offering to pass on secrets of the John F Kennedy
assassination. Sophos believes that the spammed email campaign is
an attempt to lure unsuspecting lovers of conspiracy theories into
handing over cash and confidential information to internet
scammers.
The email's author, who says he is suffering from a terminal
disease, claims to have access to declassified CIA documents, files
from the former KGB, and interviews with key people that have never
before been made public. In the email, which has been spammed out
across the internet, he tells people that his information could
help the recipient become famous:
You can talk about it with your friends and neighbors. You
can write your own shocking book that will have success and bring
you fame. You can call in to radio talk shows. You can raise the
issues. You can demand answers - not in 50 years or 100 years, but
right now, in our lifetime.
The person behind the scam email claims to have
secrets about the Kennedy assassination.
"There is a conspiracy at work here, but it's not about whether
someone was lurking on a grassy knoll in Dallas on 22 November
1963," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Internet
criminals are conspiring to steal sensitive information and raid
the bank accounts of unsuspecting internet users. If everyone
showed the same skepticism to unsolicited emails as some do to the
official investigations into the Kennedy assassination, then maybe
less people would end up the victims of a scam."
This email con-trick is a variant of many existing 419 email
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,
spyware 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.