Endpoint Protection

It seems malicious attacks on job seekers were not enough. We are now seeing MMF (Make Money Fast) spam also stepping up to exploit the financial situation. Recent spam related to the recession included fake job offers as well as rejections. Some of the spam offered to help recipients out of the recession by making available financial help within 24 hours or less, without considering their credit ratings.

We will discuss MMF spam in this blog - one of the categories which targets users hit by the recession. This particular technique includes spammers sending plain text e-mails with phone numbers inside the message, enticing the recipients to call and earn easy money. This may not be a new spamming method; however it is the dire situation that spammers are cashing on. Some of the subjects related to ‘recession’ include:

Fight the Recession
Listen up Folks….Fight the Recession
We have a recession proof solution
Fight Recession with Your Phone
Blow off the doors of the recession

Below are some of the repeatedly used subject lines in the past and present with this category:

Your Own Business
You can do it also
Generate up to 3ka day
1 to 3k a day
1500-3500 per day

In general, we also see spammers using the old fashioned spamming technique of inserting obfuscated words in both the subject line and message in an attempt to escape anti-spam filters.

News1etter
0nly ten minutes a week
An opportunity for you
1O minutes or less week of your time

Some of the sample messages are displayed below:

 

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As shown, the message contains a line encouraging the recipient to dial into the number provided. When recipients call this number, a pre-recorded message will request they leave a message (name, phone numbers). Spammers may call back and try to extract personal information like credit card or Social Security Number under the pretext of confirming recipient’s identity.

We always recommend that users must safe-guard their personal information especially credit card information. We also emphasize that users should not reveal personal information to unfamiliar sites on the Internet or to an unknown person on the phone – both can be equally dangerous.