Obama inauguration spam

IdentityTheft — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:11:00 GMT

Barack Obama’s inauguration has inspired millions of people, including cyber crooks bent on identity theft.

Watch out for headlines like “Barack Obama refused to be president of the United States of America,” and “There is no president in the USA anymore”; they’re linked to malicious software called “netbots” that automatically invade your computer and steal your information. They also “worm” their way into the computers of everyone else in your address book or anyone else you connect with online.

Just hours after Obama was elected last November, millions of email inboxes received spam with “Obama acceptance speech” in the subject line, enticing millions of people to click on the link, thinking they’d get a chance to read the transcript. What they got instead was a nasty Trojan horse malware installed on their computers. When that happens, any information on the computer—bank account information, credit card statements, Social Security numbers, etc—is captured and sent back to a remote computer.

To avoid an invasion, follow these rules:

If you receive an email with a tempting subject line like “You’re a winner” don’t open it; just delete it.
If you receive an email that instructs you to provide personal or financial information by clicking on a link, delete it. Even if it seems to be from a reputable source—your bank, credit card company, or the IRS—delete it. It’s been said a million times already: no financial institution or government agency will ever send you an email requesting that your information be submitted via email or the Internet.

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Obama inauguration spam