Malware scares for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and as expected, spammers are already capitalising on the occasion to cast their bewitching spam to try and steal personal information from email users.  Spammers offering free gift cards of various denominations for purchasing gifts have already been detected, says internet security company, Symantec. Various online surveys which claim to give out gift cards with participation are also offered. Clicking on these offers takes users to a website where a wide range of their personal information, including email address, postal address and phone number, is gathered. Here are some examples of subject lines used in promotion messages: Subject: Which kind of do you prefer? Subject: Get your Halloween treats early from Subject: Halloween Theme Park survey and receive $500 Subject: Go on a $500 Halloween shopping spree Subject: Your $500 Halloween shopping spree Subject: Annual Halloween Sale Subject: Get a 120 Ct Bag of Brand Name Halloween Candy - On Us!

In other spam samples, subject lines related to Halloween are being used in an attempt to sell health-related products. The URLs provided in the messages lead users to an online pharmacy store.

Subject lines used in health spam include:

Subject: Hurry for Halloween sale Subject: 80% cut on Halloween Subject: Halloween great offers Subject: Halloween sales Subject: Biggest deal this Halloween Subject: Halloween discount Users are advised to ignore any unsolicited emails originating from an unknown source to avoid personal information being jeopardised.