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Spammers Fix On Presidential Candidates For Scams
David Utter
Staff Writer
2008-03-05
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Junk email based on interest in US Presidential hopefuls and other celebrities tries to hook people into handing over money.
Viagra and easy money are just a couple of the come-ons spammers hope will get people to download malware, but they seem to think the messages will be more effective if they link Presidential candidates to them.
Security vendor Symantec said in its March State of Spam Report the names of candidates have been cropping up with links to all kinds of typical scams. Frequently, these lead to a malicious download bent on making the victim's PC part of a botnet.
"The presidential candidates aren't the only targets. Also seen were high profile names such as Michael Jackson, Heather Mills, and Indiana Jones to name a few," Symantec's Kelly Conley said.
Though Conley noted how such spams should be spotted easily because of misspelled names, it's likely that based on our observations of how well (actually, poorly) people spell these days, many folks simply don't notice those typos.
Hot rumors about famous people are easy enough for Internet users to check without needing to click through an emailed link. Their failure to do so continues to make spamming an attractive strategy for criminals.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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