BEWARE: several weeks ago we warned you about “Postcard” or “eCard” spam, and the dangers it poses for computer users. Several people on the infomanager and AUGD list snickered. Seems both the FBI and FCC now agree…
Users on Comcast, Road Runner, AOL and other — including Japan, China, United Kingdom and Russia are targets of the latest spam attack spoofing name-brand ecard sites to steal your identity. Obviously some computer users still haven’t learned NOT to click on email from sources not authenticated.
Spam / Scam bulk mailers and / or Trojans are trying to lure users into opening a concealed computer virus in a link disguised as an online greeting card. Both the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission have issued additional warnings to consumers about the greeting-card spam
The email is convincing because the criminal spammers are ‘spoofing’ email addresses to make it look like the card is coming from a reputable ecard company like Hallmark or American Greetings.
Infected computers become another purveyor of the Trojan. Macintosh computers are NOT affected, in fact the link generally won’t even work if accessed by a Mac running Safari or Firefox. Windows machines, because of their lack of security will immediately become infected and begin re-sending the spam. Users who actually open the link will be putting their identity at risk.
See: Washington Post article
By Sam Diaz and Alejandro Lazo (July 21, 2007; Page D03)
See: www.techlinks.net article, and Marshal Security
The following is our list gathered since yesterday, about 18 hours ago.
This incident = July 22, 2007
Trojan link = http://172.190.147.152/?8ca9a885b5e6291c3de8293ec
Owner = America Online, Dulles, VA, US
