ACMA warns against World Cup spammers

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is urging caution following the reporting of a number of spam-fuelled scam attempts linked to the World Cup.

Recipients of the scam emails are being asked to provide bank details and personal information in exchange for hefty cash prizes.

Commenting on the scams, ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman, said scammers were increasingly framing their messages around topical events, such as the World Cup.

“These types of messages typically come in waves, and play on a person’s topical interest in the event as a hook,” he said in a statement.

According to the ACMA, the scams are taking three main forms:

• Congratulations from Fifa (sic) World Cup Promo you won $1,000,000.00 contact our agent to claim your prize Mr Fred Samuel Email: (email address);
• Your mobile number has won $100,000 and to watch the finals live at the FIFA WORLD CUP PROMO REF: SA3T10.send email to (email address) or call: (phone number).
• This is to confirm your cell have won US$5.8M for FIFA 2010 International Award. To claim contact Mrs. Martins via: (email address).

The ACMA is directing all those receiving spam, to their new spam defence service, Spam SMS where they can report the incident via the website or a hotline.

As previously reported by Computerworld Australia, after several months of testing, the ACMA [[artnid:349423 |officially launched the hotline]] which allows Australians to report spam by forwarding the message to the specified mobile number instead of through an online form.

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