Never Open Unsolicited E-Mail
Kay Robinson
The FBI has recently developed information indicating cyber criminals are attempting to once again send fraudulent e-mails to unsuspecting recipients stating that someone has filed a complaint against them or their company with the Department of Justice or another organization such as the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Admin-istration or the Better Business Bureau.
Information obtain-ed during the FBI investigation has been provided to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS has taken steps to alert their public and private sector partners with the release of a critical infrastructure information notice.
The e-mails are intended to appear as legitimate messages from the aforementioned departments, and they address the recipients by name. Other personal information may also be contained within the e-mail. Consistent with previous efforts, the scam will likely be an effort to secure personally identifiable information. The nature of these types of scams is to create a sense of urgency for the recipient to provide a response through clicking on a hyperlink, opening an attachment or initiating a telephone call.
It is believed this e-mail refers to a complaint that is in the form of an attachment, which actually contains virus software designed to steal passwords from the recipient. The virus is wrapped in a screensaver file wherein most anti-virus programs are unable to detect its malicious intent. Once downloaded, the virus is designed to monitor username and password logins, and record the activity, as well as other password-type information, entered on the compromised machine.
Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided. To receive the latest information about cyber scams, please go to the FBI Web site and sign up for e-mail alerts by clicking on one of the red envelopes. If you have received a scam e-mail please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
Kay Robinson is president of the Better Business Bureau of Central East Texas, serving 19 East Texas counties. To contact the BBB in Tyler, call 903-581-5704, and in Longview, call 903-757-3611 or 800-443-0131, or visit the Web site at www.easttexas.bbb.org. The organization can be e-mailed at info@tyler.bbb.org.
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