In a first, a Hindi phishing scam

India has always been the favourite target of the cyber mafia who are been training their guns on internet users through phishing attacks, virus and trojan attacks launched from foreign nations or even homeland to make money or get vital private information.

The global intelligence lab of the E-security giant Symantec recently detected a new technique adapted to target innocent Hindi speaking internet users. A Nigerian phishing attack has been launched in Hindi to target users in sub-continent.

Gaurav Kanwal from Symantec said, “A factor that makes Hindi an attractive medium for cyber criminals is the possibility of first-time or emerging Internet users being more comfortable with their mother tongue, and therefore more easily deceived. This is a classic example of social engineering where the attacker does not exploit any vulnerability in the system, but rather dupes the victim into revealing sensitive information.”

The phishing spam email says that the user has won 7.5 million pound Great Britain Pound (GBP) and further asks them to submit personal details. The mail gives details about a person named Alex Jefferson, who the user has to contact. The email names Maria Tomaza Pazo, who claims that she is bank employee who will transfer money.

The user may lose confidential details and also his computer could turn into a zombie computer if it follows any URL links provided by the cyber criminals.