Going Phishing On Your Birthday?
 | Author:
Victor Sample
Vic Sample: MT43 News Treasurer |
Going Phishing On Your Birthday? Victor Sample Researchers at NordVPN have uncovered a new tactic involving email birthday cards. If it’s your birthday you might receive some eCard birthday cards instead of regular cards. You might open them without even thinking about it and click on the link to view the Birthday eCard.
Surprise – you might have just downloaded malware!
Lately, there have been a lot of online businesses that have reported being hacked and data stolen. The business may report that no sensitive data such as credit card numbers or social security numbers were stolen, but the hackers did steal personal information like address, phone number, email, etc.
It is pretty easy to find someone’s birthdate. With a little bit of searching on the internet and you can find birthdates and addresses. So, stealing non-sensitive information like address, phone number, and email may not sound like too big a deal.
But, thieves see a way to combine your birthday and email address into an excellent opportunity to get you to download malware onto your PC/Tablet/SmartPhone.
The researchers at NordVPN estimate that worldwide there are over 900 million people’s birthdates online.
The malware people are very smart and can combine email, friend lists (easily gotten from social media sites like FaceBook) and names to craft a very sophisticated email. In some cases, the phishing emails might say you have an Amazon gift card waiting (or a gift card at any other online site) as an extra incentive to click on a link to a malware site.
Always, Always, Always take the time to look at the “from” information details to try to ensure the email is actually from someone you know. It’s very easy to fake the From Name, but the actual email address the scammers use is harder to fake. Also, look for generic greetings like “Dear Sir/Madam” – that is usually an indicator of phishing emails.
There is no reason to ruin a birthday or a holiday with paranoia about email. One of my sisters and a few friends quite often send me eCards that are valid and safe. But, if you receive an email on your birthday about an eCard or a gift card, just take the few extra seconds it takes to ensure they really are from friends and relatives and not scammers!
Never, Ever click on a link in an email without taking the time to verify who sent the email.
The information in this article came from an article by Ian Barker published by “betaNews”.
