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(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 13, 2008 ) Hong Kong - Specific Trends Discussed in the Report:
The economy played a big role in spam messages last month. Spammers are continuing to use the economy as a ruse to deliver their spam messages. In general, spam levels averaged in at 76.4 percent of all email messages in October. This spam level represents a year on year increase of nearly six per cent since October 2007, but a decrease since the 80 per cent level
in August this year.
Specific Trends Discussed in the Report:
- "It's the economy, stupid”
- The recent economic bailout package and interest rate cuts have opened the door for spammers to step up their attack efforts.
- In October, Symantec observed a spam attack that contained a message claiming to come from U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson.
- The message suggested that Paulson had been instructed by the United Nations to "wire a sum of $1m into your Bank Account in a Legal way." However, in order to claim the money the recipient was asked to provide personal details.
- In a weak attempt to sound legitimate, the email begins by providing personal information about Paulson.
- Symantec observed a new spam attack during October purporting to originate from the FDIC.
- The spam message claimed that "funds wired into your account are stolen." Recipients are asked to check their account statement which the message claims has been attached to the email.
- Victims who opened the attachment were exposed to malware.
The Holidays are Coming: ‘T'is the Season For Spam’
With the 2008 holiday season approaching, spammers are once again taking a seasonal spam angle and using email to tout such wares as pharmaceutical product and casino spam.
- The Election Continues to be Used in Spam Campaigns
- With the U.S. presidential election so prominent during October, it is no surprise that spammers used presidential election content in their spam campaigns.
- We continued to see presidential gift card spam. Recipients were asked to complete a survey on the election with the promise of receiving a free gift card. This gift card spam attack has been used to harvest personal information.
- One of the new election-related spam attacks observed in October has been dubbed by spammers as a "Barackumentary.” Spammers offered a free DVD about Barack Obama; however, in order to receive this "free" video, recipients were asked to provide personal credit card details to the sender.
Other Report Highlights:
Lottery Scam, Sister to 419 Spam, Continues in October
- Lottery scam, closely related to Nigerian or 419 spam, continued in October. Two notable lottery scams were observed by Symantec in October 2008.
- The FIFA World Cup which opens in South Africa in 2010 was targeted in one scam.
- This lottery scam message claimed that in conjunction with the South Africa 2010 World Cup organizing committee, a drawing had taken place, and the "lucky" email recipient won a jackpot of $USD 800K. In order to claim the prize, the email recipient is instructed to contact a paying agent and provide them with their personal information.
- Also observed this month was a lottery scam message relating to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Despite being four years away, the lottery scam email claims that the recipient has won £950k.
- The recipient is also asked to contact the paying agent to claim their money.
Rise in Image Spam Linked to Phishing Scams
- The connection between a recent rise in image spam and phishing spam also emerged in October 2008.
- Image spam reached a peak of 52 percent of all spam in January 2007. In September 2008, image spam averaged 2 percent of all spam, but in October 2008, this increased to 9 percent.
- A direct correlation can be made between the increase in image spam and the increase in phishing attacks that contain financial institution logos during October.
The file size of image spam messages can put a strain on email infrastructures and can prevent end users from receiving legitimate email. Nearly 92 percent of image spam monitored in the last 30 days had an average size of between 5-50Kb.
Obfuscated URL Attack Targeting German--Speaking Domains
- During September 2008, Symantec observed a large volume attack targeted at German domains. Many of the messages used an obfuscation technique in the URL, inserting spaces in an attempt to get past URL-based filters.
- The messages contained sexually explicit text before inviting the user to type the Web site URL directly into their browser. The messages also contained random text in English in an attempt to randomize the messages to try and get it past spam filters.
Emma Jenkins
Account Manager
EBA Communications Ltd
Reaching the people who matter
Tel: +852 2122 9761
Fax: +852 2537 3012
emma.jenkins@ebacomms.com
www.ebacomms.com
Symantec Corp.
Emma Jenkins
+852 2122 9761
emma.jenkins@ebacomms.com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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