UPDATED 10:34 EDT / JUNE 30 2012

NEWS

Spammers Target London Olympics 2012, Become Opportunists Again

Spammers and cybercriminals are rightly called opportunists, as they never miss an opportunity to attack their prospects or dupe people. Be it some event or anything noteworthy, they always try to take advantage of it. And their new target is the London Olympics 2012. As the grand sports event will soon kick off, a number of spammed messages are surging on the Internet. Perhaps, you could also receive one of those spammed mails in your junk folder.

These messages can include anything, right from prize and free tickets in exchange for your information, malware disguised as prize notification, or request to contact specific people. The official website of the London Olympics 2012 has also released a note with advice to users about online safety.

Here is a quick list of the mail spam/scam variations related to London Olympics 2012:

• 2012 Games Entertainments Co-ordinator
• 2012 Olympic Draws
• 2012 Olympic Promo
• 2012 Olympic Promotion Board United Kingdom – South Africa
• 2012 Olympics, A Lottery For The Future
• 2012 Summer Olympic Lottery
• 2012 Summer Olympic/Paralympic Games
• Australian Lottery (in affiliation with the London 2012 Olympics Committee)
• AUTHORISATION NOTE: P&G WORLDWIDE PARTNER / London 2012 Olympic Games
• BBC Olympic Prize
• Big Big London 2012 Olympic Lottery
• BT & London 2012 Olympics Promotions Team
• CocaCola Company and London 2012 Official Award Notification
• Coca Cola London 2012 Olympic Games Promotions
• Deloitte/London 2012 Olympic Games Promotional Draw
• Ford Olympic 2012 Promo
• Future 2012 Olympics – Congratulations!
Grosvenor/London 2012 Olympic Games Promotional Draw
• London 2012 Draw Results
• London 2012 Employment
• London 2012/ FIFA International Online Lottery
• London 2012 grant award
• London 2012/Microsoft 2011
• London 2012 press release
• London 2012 Olympic Games Raffle Award
• London 2012 Olympics/Microsoft Sweepstake
• LONDON 2012: Ticket Number: LND0026
• Olympic 2012 Awareness Lotto
• Olympic Torch
• P & G Olympic Promotion

It seems the cybercriminals will keep on playing until they achieve the profitability and successful margins. Their attacks continue to persist as we recently explored an android malware posing as a premium security app. Kaspersky Labs identified a new variety of the Zeus malware that disguises itself as a premium security app. The fake app, called Android Security Suite Premium, was first released earlier this month and since then, newer versions have been released. The Zeus malware steals incoming text messages and sends them to command-and-control servers operated by the attackers. Depending on the apps installed on the Android device, the text could include sensitive data, such as password-reset links.


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