Ebola Scams

With most disasters, tragedies and other newsworthy events that occur these days, there seems to be spammers trying to take advantage. The Ebola outbreak is no exception. Cybercriminals and spammers have been unleashing malware designed to capitalize on the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

The phishing attempts include an email that appears to come from the World Health Organization (WHO) and encourages recipients to open an attachment to learn how they can protect themselves from the disease.

The fake emails from WHO reportedly carry a DarkComet Remote Access Trojan (RAT). Once a user clicks on the attachment, the malware is downloaded on the computer and gives the hacker access to the victim’s files, sound capture, passwords, webcam and more.

There has also been an abundant amount of other spam emails with various subject lines about Ebola, including secret cures, survival guides and nearby outbreaks. The cybercriminals are obviously aware of society’s recent fears with the disease and are jumping at the opportunity to exploit it.

But with any other phishing attempts, there are a few easy things you can do to keep yourself safe. The most important is to never download an attachment or open a link from a sender you don’t know. If you’re unsure about the legitimacy of a link, hover your mouse over to see if it’s actually taking you the website it says. Misspelled words and bad grammar are also red flags to look for.

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