December 6th 2013
As the world mourns the death and celebrates the life of Nelson Mandela, it seems very sad to have to issue a warning about phishing emails, social media posts and fake websites instigated by fraudsters who take advantage of the emotions and misfortunes of others.
Such events as this always present heartless criminals with an ideal opportunity to release a wave of scams and malware … exploiting people's sorrow, respect and also curiosity.
At this stage we can only guess as to the types of message that fraudsters will be using to cloak their scams, but we anticipate that they may centre around accessing photos, travel to South Africa and donations to trusts and charities – to name but a few. The messages will include malicious code designed to infect computers with viruses, spyware, or Trojan horses.
Our main advice is that you should not respond to unsolicited emails or open links or attachments contained in them, but delete them without passing them on. The same applies to posts on social media sites.
