Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned
computer users to take greater care online, following an increase
in the amount of spam email seen offering romantic contact.
Sophos warns that such emails can have a number of purposes,
including confirming that an email address is active - and thus
more attractive to spammers. More sinisterly it can lead to a
confidence trick that sees the recipient building up a
"relationship" with their new electronic friend and ultimately hand
over money or personal information, perhaps to pay for a ticket for
the young woman to visit.
Two recent examples of spam claiming to come
from pretty young women.
"Some people need a reality check, and take a long hard look at
themselves in the mirror - is it really likely that an unknown
young woman would see them on the web and be moved to make contact?
And even if it was, would this be the sane behavior of anyone you
would ever want to meet?," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "If you do reply to a message
like this the danger is that you will not just be confirming your
email address is 'live', but also you could be pulled into a circle
of deception designed to separate you from the contents of your
wallet."
Sophos experts note that the email addresses used to contact the
supposed author of the message are, in some cases, the same as
known spam sites selling pharmaceutical products.
"There is more medical and pharmaceutical-related spam seen than
any other kind, so it's no surprise to see that some spammers may
be using the lure of pretty young women to hook the unwary,"
continued Cluley.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend against the
threats of both spam and viruses.
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.