An e-mail claiming to be from Microsoft and AOL is currently doing the rounds, attempting to trick readers into giving out personal information.
Topped with an official looking Microsoft logo, the e-mail pretends to be alerting recipients to a prize draw which they were entered into – adding ‘If you ignore this, you will regret it later.’
This e-mail is wholly false, and is an attempt to get personal details. It is the latest in a long line of e-mails that are called ‘phishing’ mails; where people are conned into giving out personal or credit card details, paying out money or ringing expensive premium lines.
The terrible formatting and errors in this mail are a dead giveaway, but phishing mails are a growing problem that is causing fraud police across the globe a major headache.
Although only a fraction of people fall for the e-mails, the conmen send out thousands and sometimes millions of attempts – and often rely on responses from the weaker members of the community such as the elderly, who are often less au fait with the dangers of the internet.
The Stig