Italy quake spawns spam attacks
Friday, April 10, 2009
Spammers exploiting the curiosity of internet users have circulated emails claiming to have information about the devastating earthquake this week in Abruzzo, Italy, according to a security alert from anti virus and web security company Symantec.
On Wednesday, the company picked up on spam emails sent from randomized email accounts with Italy quake news subject lines, according to the Symantec security blog.
There are no malicious attachments in this type of scam, but spammers could still validate active email accounts when users open the email to create active accounts lists.
"Spammers still favor this type of social engineering technique, playing on users’ curiosity," the company explained in the blog post.
Some of the subject lines found in the spam emails include "A glance at towns damaged by quake in Italy," "A glance at victims and damage in Italy's quake" and "Scientist claims he predicted Italy quake."
Previously, spammers exploited curiosity about the death of British actress Natasha Richardson in a skiing accident to spread spam scareware.
Symantec said on its blog that it has picked up on a burst of spam related to celebrities Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.
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