New Delhi: IT security solutions provider Trend Micro cautioned netizens against spam mails offering free Olympic tickets, saying it could be baits for online crimes like phishing.
"Cyber criminals are known as opportunists. They will take advantage of anything newsworthy and craft their schemes around (for example) sporting events like FIFA and the Olympics," Trend Micro said in a statement.
As the London 2012 Olympics draws near, Trend Micro has spotted spammed messages using the event as bait. "Users who fall for any of these traps are at risk of having their information stolen or their machines infected with malware. Some spam may even lead to monetary loss," warns the firm.
The Olympic Games will be held between July 27 to August 12 in London and will see participation from over 197 countries. Over 10,000 athletes are expected to participate in the event.
Experts said the mails could, like many other spam mails, say the person that they have won free tickets and ask for personal information like credit card details, home address, marital status and occupation.
The scammers behind this spam may use the gathered information in their future malicious schemes and the data might also be sold to other cybercriminal groups.
"Attackers are still using these because these scams are still giving them successful margins. Social engineering has worked for years and there are little signs of that changing," Trend Micro Country Manager India and SAARC Amit Nath said.
The company said users can prevent these threats by doing some simple checking of emails.
They should be wary of these tell-tale signs - sloppy/unprofessional email format, obvious grammar mistakes and claims of an unbelievable amount of cash prize," it added.
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