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Information Technology News Don't get feathers ruffled by bird flu spam
Information Technology News Don't get feathers ruffled by bird flu spam | Don't get feathers ruffled by bird flu spam |
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| by Stan Beer | |
| Thursday, 27 October 2005 | |
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Security specialist Sophos is warning internet users in Australia and New Zealand to avoid being sucked in by spam preying on people's fears about bird flu. Representatives of Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical company which produces Tamiflu, say they have received reports of internet sales of drugs which purport to be Tamiflu but are in fact bogus. The American Medical Association and British Medical Association are campaigning to alert consumers about the risks of purchasing drugs online. SophosLabs spamtraps in Australia have also picked up messages aggressively talking up the stock of a company which has recently announced disinfectant products effective against bird flu and SARS. "Stock pump-and-dump spammers seek out and exploit press releases from legitimate companies, and the brand names of legally-trading investment advisors," explains Paul Ducklin, head of technology for Sophos, Asia Pacific, in Sydney. "They create realistic-looking short term 'investment advice' in the hope of pumping a stock enough to offload their own shares at a profit. The increasing quantity and sophistication of pump-and-dump campaigns suggests that there is plenty of money to be made. Of course, the companies which were talked up, and their legitimate investors, are left to bear the after-effects of the stock dump."
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