Security news21 November 2006
Don't let Christmas spam fill your email stocking, Sophos warns As the holidays approach, spammers are employing Christmas-related gimmicks
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have identified a new marketing trick being used by spammers in their attempt to get a hold of legitimate email addresses and user information in the run-up to the holiday season: they are offering to send your child a letter directly from Santa.
The unsolicited email campaign, which includes subject lines like "Letter From Santa For Your Child" and "Santa Letter from the North Pole", offers a personalised letter addressed to your child. The email, which has been seen in several of our global spam traps, also requests you to get in touch if you received the email in error.
"This type of spam message preys on parents wanting to give their child something special for the holiday season," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant for Sophos. "Just like any other time of the year, users need to remain vigilant about spam, even if it seemingly offers something desirable. Rather than confirming your email address to a complete stranger by replying to this unsolicited message, delete the email and consider other ways to make your kids happy this Christmas season."
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About Sophos
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.
