As was to be expected, there has been a massive swell of scam emails riding on the coattails of the back-to-back tragedies of the Boston Marathon bombing, and the Texas fertilizer plant explosion. “CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Fertilizer Plant Explosion” reads one bogus subject line; “Aftermath to explosion at Boston Marathon” reads another.
Many, if not most, of these have a malware payload – clicking on the link within will download a worm to your computer, which will then do nasty things like add your machine to a botnet, use your machine to further replicate the worm, etc..
Other subjects being used to entice the unwary to open the spam include:
Video of Explosion at the Boston Marathon 2013
Video footage of Texas explosion
2 Explosions at Boston Marathon
Boston Explosion Caught on Video
Plant Explosion at Waco, Texas
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It should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyways. If you don’t know the source, don’t open it. If it comes unexpectedly, don’t open it. If the URL is mostly numbers or gibberish, don’t click on it, even if it seems to come from someone you know.
You are always better off typing in a URL into your browser, than clicking on a link.
Always.
The Internet Patrol is completely free, and reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP.