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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Click Here For Your Tax Refund Notification! Wrong!!! 


If it is too good to be true then it probably is not true. I know several of you (myself included), have received an email claiming that you have a tax refund.  This phishing email claims the recipient is eligible for a tax refund of $xxx.xx.  The email then requests the user to submit their “Tax Refund Request Form” by clicking on the link provided.  This is the latest technique used in spam emails.  It’s called the "Drive-By Download" technique.  This is when downloads occur that the user indirectly authorizes without understanding the consequences. 

In this case, the user unintentionally installs a Zeus/Zbot on their computer.  Zeus is the #1 botnet, infecting 3.6 million PCs in the US alone.  Zeus infects PCs, it is a financial malware.  It lurks in the background and waits for you to log onto a list of targeted banks and financial institutions, stealing your credentials and sending them to a remote server in real time. 

With all of our spam filters and intrusion prevention systems in place at MCC we still have some of these phishing emails slip though our nets.  You can protect yourself by avoiding downloading anything from messages on Twitter, Facebook or in emails, even if the message is from someone you know.  As a general rule, never download any file if you are not 100 percent certain it is secure and virus free.

Donna Pogroszewski
Communications and Network Services
01/28/2010