PRESS RELEASE
G Data exposes Valentine's Day scam and offers security advice
London, UK, 14th February 2012 - G Data has exposed a Valentine's Day scam which involves cyber criminals sending spam emails to lure unsuspecting Internet users into traps. Using fake £50 gift coupons from large online shops, criminals lure users into visiting promotional websites.
By embedding links in emails, cyber criminals lead users to dubious online shops and infected websites, allowing them to gain access to personal data, e.g. credit card information. Every visit to the website generates money and this type of click fraud proves very lucrative for criminals. The offenders also use social networks such as Facebook for the propagation of these scams.
G Data advises users to be alert when dealing with spam emails and special offers on social networks. "Shortly before Valentine's Day cyber criminals are increasingly active and we see a surge in the amount of spam emails", states Eddy Willems, Security Evangelist at G Data. In order to protect personal information, users should be cautious with emails concerning Valentine's Day and should delete them without reading them. Links on social networks pages should not be clicked on heedlessly as they could be linked to websites that are infected with malware.
If the user clicks on the embedded link in the email, they could land at an online shopwhere medication such as Viagra is offered. If an order is placed then the user loses not only their money but also divulges their credit card information and other personal details. The ordered medication will probably never arrive or it may be fake.
Fake Amazon Gift Coupons
The experts from the G Data Security Labs have discovered that fake gift coupons for Amazon are currently being distributed via Facebook in Germany.
The website that this link leads to does not offer the deal, but instead presents the user with promotional content that the offenders can earn money with. This is click fraud and the criminals earn money with every visit to the web page. Analysis performed by the G Data security experts found that currently no malware is being distributed by these web sites. Visitors will however be directed to a dating web site via a shortened link.
Five G Data Security Tips for Valentine's Day
- Emails from unknown senders should be deleted without reading them. File attachments such as greeting cards orvideos as well as links should not be executed.
- The operating system, the browser and its components as well as the installed security solutions should always be up-to-date. Program updates should be installed as soon as possible to close any existing vulnerabilities.
- A comprehensive and high-performance security solution that permanently examines http traffic for malicious code should be installed on your PC. The PC is then effectively protected against Drive-by-Downloads. A spam filter to block unwanted emails is imperative.
- Language can expose a scam. It is highly improbable that a friend will send an email in a language other than their own tongue. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are also an indication of unwanted mail.
- Online criminals take advantage of trust. In social networks links should not be thoughtlessly clicked on even when theycome from friends. To check out the validity of short URLs, services such as longurl.org can be used.
About G Data
G Data Software AG is an Internet security specialist and pioneer in virus protection. Founded in Germany in 1985, the company developed the world's first antivirus program. An innovative and quickly expanding software house specialising in IT security solutions, G Data consistently outperforms other European security providers in national and internationaltests. G Data's product range comprises security solutions for consumers and medium to large sized enterprises. G Data's products are available in more than 90 countries worldwide. www.gdatasoftware.co.uk
