The frightening new Optus scam targeting innocent Aussies

Less than a month after a frightening Optus scam hit inboxes across the country, Australians are being warned of another scam that is being sent to thousands of people via email.

Web security company MailGuard released a statement explaining a new phishing email scam is being sent to people nationwide that isn’t actually from Optus.

The content of the emails is very similar to the previous run of scam emails. They advise the recipient of a document that is available for them, with a link to access the said document. According to MailGuard, in most cases, the links lead unsuspecting recipients to a malicious file download.

The emails employ varying subject lines such as notification, base report, pension, insurance documents and complaint, just to name a few.

People are getting caught out by the scams because the emails looks legitimate. Here are several screenshots of the emails MailGuard has intercepted:

“The plain-text nature of these emails, along with how consistently they are being sent are a good reminder of how easy it is for cybercriminals to create and proliferate scam emails,” MailGuard said in a statement.

Read more: Aussies warned of distressing ’emergency’ text message scam

MailGuard warned all cyber users to be vigilant when accessing their emails, and look out for tell-tale signs of malicious emails. These include avoiding emails that do not address recipients directly, bad grammar or misuse of punctuation, an instruction to click on a link and obscure sending addresses.

Optus customers have been sent similar messages and scams in the past, with the company advising customers to beware of dodgy emails.

The emails that ask for personal details, known as phishing scams, usually prompt people to provide details including their date of birth, password or banking information. In some cases, victims are asked to provide this information on a website that looks very similar to the official company website.

Read more: Scam alert: Worrying Optus scam tricking customers with fake email

The latest warning comes less than a month after the last Optus scam hit Aussie’s inboxes. At the time, MailGuard said there were several variations of the email scam, ranging from remittance advice to car insurance document scams. Similar to the latest scam, they advise the recipient of a document that is available for them, with a link to access the document.

MailGuard has detected that #malicious #emails, all purporting to be from @Optus and using the domain ‘https://t.co/5bst3FmnAV’ are infiltrating inboxes. The format of these emails is similar, with most appearing in plain-text form. View more details here: https://t.co/nyjD1Fy28K pic.twitter.com/n1przEq3oO

— MailGuard (@MailGuard) February 13, 2019

Have you received one of these emails? Have you ever fallen victim to a scam?