Security news7 December 2007
Lebanese lottery scammer arrested in Cyprus, Sophos reports Scammer made $10 million tricking computer users into thinking they have won the lottery
Email scams attempt to trick computer users into making unwise investments
IT security and control firm Sophos reminds computer users about the danger of internet scams following the arrest of a Lebanese man alleged to have defrauded victims out of USD $10 million using email.
According to media reports, Ali Mohamed Kdoud, who Interpol has allegedly been looking for during the last two years, was arrested at Cyprus's Larnaca airport on Thursday this week as he attempted to leave the island. Kdoud has been charged with extorting millions from countless computer users, located around the world. The victims, believing they had won the lottery, handed over confidential and financial information to prove their identities as well as stumped up cash for processing fees. The authorities are reported to be currently holding Kdoud, awaiting extradition papers.
Lotto scams usually take place via email. Messages with subject lines such as "Lucky Winner" notify recipients that they have won a large amount of money. The email often includes a "unique" reference number and a phone number. When contacted, the scammers claim they need to collect information from the victim to ensure the prize is rightfully theirs. The confidential data taken from the victim is then used to drain bank accounts.
"We are seeing more and more scammers like this one be arrested, and it is high time that they pay the price for their greed," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "How many victims must have been conned for this thief to net USD $10 million? Let this serve as a wake up call for all computer users - before you start dreaming of spending the rest of your days lazing on a beach somewhere, make sure you verify all unsolicited emails for authenticity before replying. Otherwise, you might find yourself light in the pockets, not to mention frustrated that you got duped by one of the oldest scams in the book - fraud."
Scams involving email include financial stock, also known as pump and dump, and 419 scams, all of which are designed to steal from the victims. Scams have pretended to come from National Lotto organisations to "Who wants to be a millionaire?" In one case, a single individual was scammed out of US $1.5 million. Some scams have even threatened the recipients with death threats.
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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.
