Security news7 June 2006
Email scammer poses as Scottish Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport Scam attempts to steal money and commit identity theft
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.
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About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
