Web Security News

Dating spam uptick may mean users are easily duped

Monday, June 22, 2009

Trend Micro reports a rise in spam related to adult dating websites, which the antivirus vendor said is likely due to the effectiveness of these emails for phishing personal information including credit card numbers.

The subject lines of the phishing spam include phrases such as "I'm emailing you because I like you," "wanted to let you know about my profile" and "you have been invited to join." The emails provide a link to an adult dating website that contains a clickable ad that says, "CLICK HERE TO CHAT FOR FREE."

Following the link takes the visitor to a registration site for providing an email address and password and continues to other registration sites where users are asked to fill out personal details, including a request for credit card information.

Although the chat is supposedly "free," the website claims a credit card is needed to prevent minors from trying to log in.

Trend Micro said the simplicity of the scam could mean two things - cybercriminals are running out of new ideas, or this kind of phishing attack simply works too well.

In its June spam report, web security firm McAfee noted that spam of this sort is effective because many users have become overly dependent upon spam filters for detecting scams.
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