Wonga customers are receiving scam emails claiming to be send by the payday lender.
The phishing email use the email address [email protected] and claim to be sent by 'Wonga.com Support'. The direct the recipient to "log-in to receive your security message". The authentic-looking replica of Wonga's website is actually a URL registered to an Indonesian web-hosting company. Wonga's website is hosted here in the UK.
Once at the fake site, users are asked to supply their Wonga.com login details, specifically their email address and password. This type of crime is typically used to impersonate traditional banks and other financial services companies, and the concern is that if Wonga customers are not accustomed to such frauds, they may be vulnerable.
According to a Wonga spokesperson: "Any successful online business gets targeted with these. People should of course be vigilant. If you're ever unsure of an email, right-click on the link, copy the hyperlink into the browser and check the address."
Software security firm Sophos' Graham Cluley commented: "It is child's play for a hacker to create a realistic lookalike site and send out spam messages tricking people into handing over their login usernames and passwords. It is not just banks that are targeted – sites like Google, Hotmail, Amazon and many others are frequently in the firing line. So it's not really strange to see Wonga as well," he said. "Hopefully, Wonga will do a good job of educating its users about the risks of spam and phishing."
