Violence in Libya exploited by email scammers

Outbreaks of violence in Libya between the-powers-that-be and groups opposed to Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi are causing many people to flee the country for safer shores.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, as they make a habit of stalking misery, scammers aren’t being slow to take advantage of the breaking news story.

Here’s an email we intercepted in our labs, claiming to come from someone who has escaped the country and is willing to exchange his family’s riches for assistance:

My Dearest in God,
I just escaped and arrived RSA from Libya. It was not easy.
I have the family oil recourses for charity Kindly open the link below.
[Link to video news report] For all info, Reply now
<email address>

(My assumption is that “RSA” stands for the Republic of South Africa, rather than the security firm.)

In an attempt to make the story more credible (or perhaps pull on more heartstrings), the email links to a…

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.