Creeps sneak in to your emails
ROCKHAMPTON computer guru Bruce Kerr yesterday warned the region's computer users of a new hoax Windows email he described as "the most authentic" he had seen.
Mr Kerr, the managing director of Kerr Solutions in North Rockhampton and a columnist for The Bulletin, said the hoax had all of the right logos and if followed through, would provide the scammer with a user's email details and other sensitive information.
"It reads logically and wants the victim to go to a link to verify their email account," Mr Kerr said.
"It uses the threat of Windows account suspension to motivate the reader to do this.
"The internet page that it takes you to also looks authentic with the correct logos for Yahoo, Gmail, Windows Live and AOL."
He said once the user selected an email provider it asked for your account username and password in separate fields and to click to confirm.
"It then redirects you to a genuine Microsoft update site. This would add further credence to the hoax and leave the user thinking that they have done the right thing. This hoax if executed would then give the creators full access to your emails. This gives them an effective key for further unlocking other important sites that the user may have accounts with, sites such as eBay, internet shopping sites, Twitter, Facebook and Apple ID accounts.
"They could even gain access to your PayPal account and add an extra card which could then be verified and have money spent on it." He said people needed to be wary of any email that requesting such action.
