Earlier this week, MailGuard detected an email scam spoofing popular telecommunications company, Optus.
This particular scam was highly identical to the one we intercepted about a month ago, that also purported to come from Optus.
Using the domain 'optusnet.com.au', the latest run of this email scam employs various different subject lines in order to trick unsuspecting recipients into initiating a malicious file download.
The plain-text and simple nature of this email scam is a good reminder of how easy it is for cybercriminals to create and proliferate scam emails. With a small amount of technical knowledge and minimal investment of time and money, the attackers can develop a large-scale campaign with a high degree of confidence.
Watch the full scam below:
MailGuard urges all cyber users to be vigilant when accessing their emails, and look out for tell-tale signs of malicious emails:
Tell-tale signs of email scams
- Do not address recipients directly (e.g. “Dear customer”)
- Bad grammar or misuse of punctuation and poor-quality or distorted graphics
- An instruction to click a link to perform an action (hover over them to see where you’re really being directed)
- Obscure sending addresses (for example, Hotmail, gmail, Yahoo addresses should set alarms bells ringing)
Take Action to Defend Your Business
Email attacks can be enormously costly and destructive, and new scams are appearing every week. Don’t wait until it happens to your business; take action to protect your business and your staff from financial and reputational damage, now.
For a few dollars per staff member per month, add MailGuard's cloud-based email and web filtering solution to your business security. You’ll significantly reduce the risk of new variants of malicious email from entering your network. Talk to an expert at MailGuard today about your company's cybersecurity needs: expert@mailguard.com.au
Keep up to date on the latest email scams by subscribing to MailGuard’s weekly update, or follow us on Twitter @MailGuard.
