Sophos, a world leader in IT security and control, has reminded
computer users to think twice about the veracity of email following
a widescale spam campaign which hit email inboxes this week.
The emails, which claim to come from Dell's online store, appear
to have been deliberately targeted at Australian internet users and
say that an order for an AU $805 Canon digital camera has been
accepted and the recipient's credit card will be duly charged.
The spammed emails claim to come from
Dell.
Visiting the link contained inside the email, which is presented
as a numerical IP address rather than a more usual name, could
potentially infect the user's computer with a malicious code or
take them to a website designed to steal information for the
purposes of identity theft.
"You know you didn't buy the camera. Either the transaction is
false, because someone used your credit card, or the email is
false, because someone is trying to scare you into clicking. Either
way, the whole thing stinks," said Paul Ducklin, head of
technology Sophos Asia Pacific. "If you want to contact the alleged
vendor, or your credit card company, in cases like this, initiate
the contact yourself based on your own information, not based on
what the email tells you. Go to a search engine, or type in the
vendor's URL. This gives you a much better chance of getting to the
real site and getting a real answer."
Dell Australia has published a warning about the email
on its website, confirming that they have not sent the emails and
that users should be on their guard. According to media reports,
Dell's phone lines were jammed as Australian users rang up to query
the email.
Sophos has been proactively blocking access to the website
referred to in the email since 24 April 2007 with its web security appliance and can also prevent
users from receiving the email in the first place through its
email gateway solutions.
Sophos reminds users to be wary of unsolicited emails, and has
published information about how individuals can learn how to protect
themselves against this and other phishing attacks. Recent
research by the company revealed that on average 8,193 new
webpages are found each day containing malicious content.
Organizations concerned about being fraudulently represented in
phishing campaigns can sign up to the Sophos early warning system,
Sophos PhishAlert.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.