Tens of thousands of Aussies targeted in new email scam

Online scammers launched a massive attack on Australian email addresses today, and your virus protector may not yet have noticed.

The scam involves sending emails telling recipients that they’ve received a parking fine. The emails, which come complete with a ‘ticket number’ and a ‘fine amount’ ranging from $1.04 to more than $100, are from a variety of addresses.

But MailGuard, the Australian online security company, warns that following the emailed instructions to click on a link to view the ‘ticket’ will allow malware to be downloaded to your computer.

Malware gives scammers the power to destroy your files, send emails from your address, steal information and even remotely take control of your computer.

MailGuard estimates that tens of thousands of the dodgy emails were sent out today but says that so far none of the 64 well-known anti-virus protection products have flagged the emails as suspicious.  

If you’ve received one of these emails, MailGuard CEO Craig McDonald advises you to delete it immediately.

Speaking generally, he says you should be cautious about opening any email that comes from an unknown or unexpected sender, asks you to open or download files you weren’t expecting or asks you to click on a link.

“Another easy way to check potentially suspicious emails is to hover your mouse over the sender’s address and the suspicious link,” he says. This will reveal more about the real sending domain and link destination.”

Have you fallen victim to an email scam? How do you avoid them? Did you get one of these ‘parking fine’ emails?