According to her experts Kaspersky Lab, in September, spammers developed new versions of "Nigerian Letter" fraud, using the Ebola virus as a subject in many mass messages. Much of the massive thematic missions promoted various services using popular social networking sites as spammers promised direct influx of new clients and revenue growth.
"Spammers usually try to take advantage of extraordinary news and events that are in the news. Fraudsters rarely miss the opportunity to use important events to attract users' attention and convince them that their fraudulent messages are really. So after the first news about the virus Ebola in July, it was surprising that as early as September, launched relevant bulk mail email spam, which exploited this news to deceive the recipients and to squeeze the money " comments Tatyana Shcherbakova, Senior Spam Analyst of Kaspersky Lab.
The landscape spam in numbers
According to analysis of Kaspersky Lab, spam messages accounted for an average of 66,5% of all emails in September, showing a decrease of 0,7 percentage points compared to August. Financial phishing accounted for 36,97% of spam messages detected by the anti-phishing function of Kaspersky Lab solutions, an increase of 1,7 percentage points compared to the previous month.
Main sources of spam messages were the US (12%), Vietnam (9,3%) and Russia (5,8%), while most viruses were detected in Germany (9,11%), the UK (8,45%) and US (8,26%) to follow.
"Infected" spam
An example of an Ebola-based “Nigerian Letter” scam detected by Kaspersky Lab experts involved an email purporting to be from a wealthy Liberian lady who died of the virus. It contained a long story about her children who died of the virus and a local doctor centre who refused to help her. The alleged lady was willing to donate over $1,5 million to a recipient, who would channel that amount to charity.
The authors of another fraudulent mass spam email were recommended as World Health Organization workers and tested an unusual tactic to attract attention. In particular, they invited readers to a conference in which discussions on the Ebola virus and other medical issues would take place. They also offered a job to the addressee, with annual wages reaching € 350.000. The benefits included a corporate car to take up the position of a WHO representative. in the UK.
Among the most unusual spam email of the month, Kaspersky Lab encountered messages addressed to collectors. These messages provided English-speaking users with a free book on British Legacy from the First World War. Emails with the generous offer are supposed to come from SSAFA, a charity established to help British war veterans and their families.
The full version Kaspersky Lab's September Spam Landscape Report is available on the website Securelist.com.
