Better Business Bureau Warns of Scams

Apr 24, 2012 at 06:07 am by bryan


The Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee warns consumers and businesses of a new phishing email scam making the rounds within the last few days.

This emails appear to be coming from AT&T Wireless from an “AT&T Customer Care” address, stating that the recipient’s wireless bill is ready for viewing and encouraging them to click on links to view the alleged bill, pay online, and download a smart phone application to manage the wireless account. However, the links lead to a third party website that downloads a virus onto the recipient’s computer instead.

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BBB contacted AT&T to confirm that the emails are not originating from their company.

The emails appear to have been totally random in who they are sent to. They have gone to businesses as well as individuals. There is no indication that BBB Accredited Businesses are being targeted.

The spammers’ goal is to get as many email recipients as possible to click on the link within the email which redirects to a website infected with malware. If you clicked on the link within these emails, your computer is likely to be infected. The criminals then use that malware to transfer money out of bank accounts or obtain additional email addresses.

The two things people can do right now to prevent being victimized by this scam or other phishing scams:
Install good anti-virus software on your computer(s) and get regular updates of virus definitions several times a day.
Never click on links in emails that have come to you unsolicited.

If you have clicked on a link in one of these emails, delete the email and your trash folder, and run a complete system scan of your computer or network.

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