As I've laid out in my current article about a Gmail hacking episode, many spammers, phishers, hackers, and other electronic intruders are technically gifted but lacking in cross-cultural EQ. "Hello My Goodsir! It is I, the authentic Former President of Gabon, requesting your help in retrieving $38.2 million cruelly taken from me. Your share in the rewards shall be handsome. You need only send me your financial particulars..."
Here's an exception: a wicked little Twitter-based phishing exercise that I've been been receiving these past few days. It appears as a purported "Direct Message" from a friend. Here's a sample, with blurring to conceal just which friend this came from and what the phishing link is.
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Here's an exception: a wicked little Twitter-based phishing exercise that I've been been receiving these past few days. It appears as a purported "Direct Message" from a friend. Here's a sample, with blurring to conceal just which friend this came from and what the phishing link is.
In case you can't read the screen shot, it's a "friend's" concerned message saying, "What's going on with this bad blog that's going around about you?" With a (certainly dangerous) link to click on for more info.
Ah, those two great motivators, greed and fear. The authentic Former President of Gabon preys on greed; this Tweet Phish plays on fear, or rather its more corrosive cousin insecurity, in Autumn-2011 version.
You have to respect the savvy of whoever came up with this. And if you get such a message, don't click on the link! (More from PC Magazine last week.)
Ah, those two great motivators, greed and fear. The authentic Former President of Gabon preys on greed; this Tweet Phish plays on fear, or rather its more corrosive cousin insecurity, in Autumn-2011 version.
You have to respect the savvy of whoever came up with this. And if you get such a message, don't click on the link! (More from PC Magazine last week.)
