Phishing for passwords of unwary Google users

How much damage could be done if your Gmail password fell into the wrong hands?

Quite a lot I would wager.

Because not only would an identity thief be able to send emails pretending to be you, and trawl through your old messages for passwords and financial information, but also your Gmail password will also unlock your other Google accounts – including Google+, Adwords, Google Checkout, Google Docs, YouTube and so forth..

So, you should work hard to protect your username and password credentials for Google login details.

Here’s an email that SophosLabs has seen spammed out, pretending to come from Google’s team:

The email claims that the recovery email address associated with your Google account has changed, and if you do not verify it then you might lose your account in its entirety.

Dear Account User,

Thanks for updating your e-mail address with us.We changed your recovery e-mail address in our files to [redacted]@hotmail.com.If this is…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.