Fighting malware and spam

Tsunami scamming begins

FBI warns donors of tsunami disaster relief fraud

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an alert warning those who wish to donate to tsunami disaster relief funds that they may be targeted by Trojan exploits and 419 scams.

The FBI has reported that bogus websites have already been set up that masquerade as legitimate relief organizations asking for donations. At least one of these websites contains an imbedded Trojan exploit.

In other scams, those who have made online appeals for information about friends and relatives still missing following the tsunami have been targeted by unsolicited emails that offer to locate loved ones - for a fee.

Of course, '419ers' never miss a trick, and the FBI has reported unsolicited emails in circulation which seek personal or financial information in an effort to retrieve large amounts of inheritance funds tied up in relation to the tsunami disaster, as well as emails requesting that money be deposited in overseas banks to support the tsunami relief effort.

A list of legitimate websites for online donations to the tsunami disaster appeal can be found at http://www.google.com/tsunami_relief.html.

Alternatively (in the UK) donations can be made to the Disasters Emergency Committee, the umbrella organization for charities providing relief http://www.dec.org.uk/.

6 January 2005

Tags: spam