Monday, December 14, 2009

Alert: eBay Motors - don't miss today's private deals !

Most of the time I report emails which have malware attached that is not picked up by the anti-virus software. However, since I've seen a number of emails with the subject eBay Motors - don't miss today's private deals !, I decided to investigate. This email looks like a scam.

The email consists of a single image file which if downloaded, contains mapped areas to make people feel there are email addresses they can click on. The link to www.ebay.com.au in particular is not an actual link and another very good indicator the email is a fake.

Checking the origin of the email showed it came from the United Arab Emirates. Other similar emails have been received from Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. Again very good clues these emails are fakes.

My guess is the aim of the email is to trick people into responding to one of the yahoo.com.au email addresses provided, and if they can trick someone, they will.

You should immediately delete these emails, or have a product like OzEfilter delete the emails safely at the mail server and never receive them into your computer.

Clicking on the image potentially provides the sender with your IP address and if your computer/internet connection is not secure, may be a further exposure. Experienced users won't even bother to look at the picture before deleting the email. The sender may take looking at a picture as a clue to you being a less experienced user. I don't know how these people think and I suspect most people don't either. It is best to minimise your exposure where possible.

Kelvin Eldridge

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