Emmanuel Marshall 22 January 2018 12:31:48 AEDT 3 MIN READ

Beware: Fake Telstra Bills Carry Malware


MailGuard has blocked a new email scam which is a fake bill with Telstra branding.

This email arrives looking like a Telstra bill notification. Telstra is one of Australia’s largest telecommunications companies, so their trademark is well known and trusted by consumers.

The messages have been sent out en-masse from a compromised MailChimp account. MailChimp accounts are often hijacked and misused by scammers because they are a simple and convenient way to anonymously target large numbers of email addresses.

If this email lands in your inbox, you can recognise it from the screenshot above.

Some tell-tale details include:

  • sender display name shown as: ‘online service team’
  • sender address: ‘info[at]lesphotography[dot]com[dot]au

 

The ‘view bill’ link in the scam message is meant to take the recipient to a downloadable archive file.

The objective of scammers who send out this kind of emails is to get their victims to open the linked files, which usually contain malware designed to infect their computers.

These sort of scam email attachments can install many types of malware including spyware, trojans and worms.

 

Telstra’s website offers this advice to their customers on how to recognise and avoid email scams:

  • Never trust emails that ask for personal details
  • Think twice before giving personal details online - instead, contact the sender using their publicly available contact details
  • Visit trusted websites via their URL, rather than clicking a link in the email
  • Only provide financial details on secure websites
  • Use a spam filter to help block unsolicited and hoax emails


Protect Your Inbox

  • Always hover your mouse over links within emails and check the domain they’re pointing to. If they look suspicious or unfamiliar don’t open them.
  • 9 out of 10 cyber-attacks are delivered via email, so it's essential to have the best filtering service available. 
  • For a few dollars per staff member per month, you can have the peace of mind of MailGuard's comprehensive cloud-based email and web filtering. You’ll significantly reduce the risk of zero-day (previously unknown) threats and stop new variants of malicious email from entering your network.
  • Keep up to date on the latest scams by subscribing to MailGuard updates or follow us on social media.
  • If you’re experiencing problems with email scams you can speak to one of MailGuard's cloud security specialists right now on 1300 30 44 30