Have you received a message from LinkedIn asking you to confirm your email address?
Well, be careful before you click on the link in your inbox, as it could be scammers trying to dupe you into doing something else entirely.
Here’s a spam message that I saw, pretending to come from LinkedIn.
It arrived at an email address that I have never used for LinkedIn, so my alarm bell was already ringing. My natural instincts told me it was suspicious, and I guessed that if I clicked on “click here” I would be taken to a phishing website.
But I was wrong. When I did click on the first link in the email I wasn’t taken to a site trying to get my LinkedIn username and password. Instead, I was redirected to a online pharmaceutical store, offering to improve my performance between the sheets with a little help from Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.
Of course, it’s impossible for me to know with certainty whether the sexual performance drugs sold by this website are legitimate or not (The SophosLabs budget doesn’t extend far enough to encourage purchasing penis pills online), but my advice would be to exercise extreme caution.
If you really need help in that department, I would advise going to your doctor rather than reaching for your mouse button.
Chances are that whoever sent out the spam is earning affiliate commission by tricking people into visiting the website.
I doubt this dubious sullying of LinkedIn’s image is raising a smile amongst the business networking site’s owners.
And don’t forget, the precise same method could be used to spread malicious links designed to infect your computer.
By the way, if you are on LinkedIn you might want to join the Naked Security LinkedIn group for the latest news and views.
