Epidemic news a ruse for e-mail attacks

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E-mails titled "Re: Epidemic in Singapore" or any other country are part of a growing spam campaign, says Symantec.

“We have recently observed spammers trumpeting false epidemic news aiming to infuse fear and encourage users to read instructions so as to remain safe from infection,” the company said in a media alert.

“Spammers have used scare tactics in the past, notably during the swine flu outbreak in 2009 and in the weeks leading up to April 2010, as an expansion of the Conficker worm,” it added.

Symantec warns Singaporeans not to fall for these "scare attacks” even when the body of these e-mails contain alarming copy such as: "The government is hiding this fact, but there is a new epidemic in Singapore. I got to know it from friends of mine, they are there right now. Here you can find the instruction what to do not get infected. Read it."

These malicious e-mails will prod you to click on what would turn out to be malware links that download or install hacking codes or viruses.

In general, Symantec advises Internet users to adopt the following best practices to avoid falling prey to phishing attacks:

• Do not click on suspicious links in email messages.
• Avoid providing any personal information when answering an email.
• Never enter personal information in a pop-up page or screen.
• When entering personal or financial information, ensure the website is encrypted with an SSL certificate by looking for the padlock, ‘https’, or the green address bar.