MARKET SCAMS

[thepennyking]

Scam emails imitate police

FEBRUARY 17, 2004

COMPUTER criminals are using emails claiming to be from federal police to access the files of home internet users, the Australian High Tech Crime Centre warned.

The centre's acting director, Nigel Phair, said false emails claiming to be from federal police were being sent to the public.

The email asks if the receiver is aware they are being investigated by police.

It asks "is that true?" and then "have you really committed such crimes?" before encouraging people to click on two links for further details.

Once the user clicks on those links, their keystrokes may be traced, enabling the sender of the email to record information such as online bank passwords.

Mr Phair said it was the first time the AHTCC had seen such an email claiming to be from a law enforcement agency.

"The AHTCC advises internet users to delete emails of this nature and to avoid clicking on the two sites enclosed," he said in a statement.

Users were also urged to ensure their anti-virus software was up to date.

The centre is investigating the origin of the bogus email.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8707873^15319^^nbv^15306,00.html