FBI sounds alarm over malware-laden phishing email making the rounds

Your Feed is from https://www.safeharboroncyber.com/Blog/
CyberWisdom Safe Harbor Commentary on Phishing Scams:
What is most likely to be an overlooked story from securityboulevard.com mentions that phishing is still the biggest threat to online services, though it is one of the oldest techniques in this book. The FBI warned that phishing scams will continue to headline news in 2018, as bad actors even send out the name of the malware mail sent by the FBI cybercrime department.
In a public service announcement, the agency said it had received a clear complaint about phishing scams on the Cybercrime Complaints Center (IC3). Surveys of these claims over the past seven months show that the claims are real.
Typically, email templates (three, lastly counted by the FBI) try to persuade victims to provide sensitive personal information that attackers can use to access their finances. If everything fails, the e-mail relies on a plan B computer infected with the victim’s malware.
Cybercriminals tricked victims into providing personal information and downloading malicious files by posing as the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). “
In a recent scam, unidentified actors emailed victims to e-mail asking recipients to provide additional information in return for compensation.In order to make e-mail appear legitimate, these swindlers included hyperlinks to news articles, Detailing the arrests or arrests of internet fraudsters unknown unknown actors have also attached a text file (.txt) to download, complete and return to the perpetrator. The text file contains malicious software designed to further victimize the victim. “
Intelligence agencies have released examples of email templates being used by three attackers, one of which is related to typical phishing scams.
These clues-from crappy English, scribbled punctuation to exaggerated remarks-and a full-fledged juvenile narrative-are enough to allow untrained users to think twice before giving up their personal information.
The council has recommended that anyone who believes they might become a victim of an online scam complains to IC3 at www.ic3.gov.
A joint cyber security study conducted by Google and the University of California last year showed that phishing is the single biggest threat to account-based online services.
Recently, data compiled by email analytics experts show that online retailers face huge risks to their customers by maintaining a weak email verification system. Specifically, the root zone where the top e-tailers in the United States and the EU operate is 87.6%. The study found that their consumers could potentially steal data through phishing attacks.
Read more…
Phishing remains the greatest threat to online services, even though it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. A warning by the FBI suggests phishing scams will continue to make headlines in 2018, as bad actors go as far as to impersonate the FBI cybercrime division, sending out malware-laced emails in its name. In Engaging post, Read More…
thumbnail courtesy of securityboulevard.com
If you like to receive more of these curated safe harbor news alerts then subscribe to my mailing list. and come back soon at https://www.safeharboroncyber.com/Blog/ to read further CyberWisdom Safe Harbor Commentaries. Home » Curated SafeHarboronCyber’s CyberWisdom Post
The post FBI sounds alarm over malware-laden phishing email making the rounds appeared first on Safe Harbor on Cyber.