Internet scammers just love Skype.While many of us use the popular chat client to keep in touch with family members and friends, internet scammers use it to scam folks out of their hard earned cash and precious data.
If you’ve used Skype, then chances are you’ve received a message from some random stranger [or possibly a bot] requesting to become a contact and learning your “a/s/l”. I know I’ve received – and been irritated by – a few myself.
It seems internet scammers noticed that their social engineering tactics on Skype were getting a little stale, so they’ve decided to switch things up a bit.
Internet Scammers Now Call You on Skype to Offer [Fake] Antivirus!
According to Sophos, internet scammers will call you on Skype to notify you that your computer security is not up to par and offer to scan your computer for malware, viruses, and the like.
Isn’t that nice?
Of course, their “computer security” scan always comes to the conclusion that your computer is lacking the proper antivirus protection and therefore you should take them up on their generous offer to purchase their antivirus software for the low, low price of just $19.95!
Purchasing their fake antivirus [aka scareware] is obviously a bad idea; you’re likely to be paying to have your computer infected and there’s no telling how many times the scammer will use your payment details for their scareware – let alone anything else that happens to catch their eye in the future.
If you want antivirus software, go directly to the website of a antivirus vendor (Eset.com, Kaspersky.com & Symantec.com are a few to get you started).
Internet Scammers IM You on Skype to Steal Your Address Book [iOS]
Yes, you read that right.
This Technology post on MSNBC states that iPhone and iPod Touch users can have sensitive information, like their entire address book, stolen without their knowledge thanks to vulnerabilities within the Skype iOS app.
Apparently the ‘Full Name’ field in Skype profiles is not checked for malicious code, which leaves the door wide open for cybercriminals to essentially perform drive-by messaging attacks on unsuspecting Skype users and rob them of their precious data.
Thankfully all hope is not lost, as Apple was smart enough to design iOS so that only certain files are vulnerable to these types of attacks. Skype has indeed been notified of this security flaw and will hopefully be releasing a fix soon.
Until then.. don't open any IMs from unknown Skype users on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
[Update 9/28: Skype has released an update for iOS users that addresses this vulnerability.]
Protect Yourself from Internet Scammers on Skype
To minimize the chances of receiving unsolicited calls or messages from cybercriminals and the like, update your Skype Privacy Settings so only users who are on your contact list can call, IM, or start a video chat with you on Skype.
Aside from updating your Skype Privacy Settings, you should always run antivirus software on your computer and make sure that it is always kept up-to-date.
No comments:
Post a Comment