MSN Used in Spam Campaign

Sophos Warn the Use of Instant Messaging Systems Will Increase in Spam Campaigns To Avoid Spam Traps

IT security and control firm Sophos has discovered an unusual spam campaign which tries to lure recipients to engage in a flirtatious MSN chat, before ultimately redirecting them to an adult website.

It begins with an unsolicited email being received by a variety of email addresses with minor randomisation of content. Users who decide to take up the offer and chat with their mystery admirer over MSN will be engaged in a scripted IM chat pretending to be from a woman who has just started doing webcam shows from her home.

After some banter, the "woman" (who is in fact a computer program, pretending to be human) says that she has some free passes to view her on a webcam website, and users will be quickly asked to sign up to a website in order to see the supposed sender's webcam.

In reality, the anonymously registered website being linked to by the online seducer belongs to ClickCash.com, an affiliate network promoting adult websites. Sophos warns that when the website asks for user details and credit card information to guarantee the user is over 18 years old, the data could easily be used to commit identity theft.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, believes that even though talking to strangers can be dangerous on the net, many people do it, and is actually quite likely that this scam could be successful.

He said "Engaging victims in playful and flirtatious chat like this is a sure fire way to hook people in and entice them to part with sensitive information. All computer users need to be wary of unsolicited emails, no matter whether or not they seem like harmless fun - if you don't know the person who sent you the message, it's possible that they're after your money and your identity."

According to Sophos, who originally intercepted the emails in its global network of spam traps, this technique could be used more in the future as spammers attempt to avoid spam filters and trick unsuspecting users into revealing sensitive and financial information.

For a full transcript of the MSN dialogue and including screenshots please click here

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