In what may very well be the first major cybercriminal campaign exploiting the Google+ brand, spammers are sending out bogus Google+ invitations that in reality point to online pharmacies.
A Canadian group of hackers called Partnerka, have been sending out fake invites to join the new service, which is still being trialled and only accessible via invitation only.
The fake invites look very similar to the ones being issued by Google+ members and appear as if they have come from a real member of the network.
A Canadian group of hackers called Partnerka, have been sending out fake invites to join the new service, which is still being trialled and only accessible via invitation only.
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| Screen Shot of Google+ Fake Invitation |
However, when the recipient clicks through to join Google+, the link takes them to a Canadian pharmaceutical website selling Viagra.
Internet security firm Sophos, discovered the scam, which they are describing as “amateur”, late Friday evening. However, spam emails are still being sent today and growing in number.
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| Google+ Fake Invitation Lead to Online Viagra Selling Website |
Internet security firm Sophos, discovered the scam, which they are describing as “amateur”, late Friday evening. However, spam emails are still being sent today and growing in number.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: “This group are trying to lure uses to a pharmaceutical website by using Google+ invites. The scam is still ongoing and spreading around the world. The scam is quite amateur at this stage as the link doesn’t even take the user to a Google-looking site from which the hackers could then grab users’ personal details. It just takes you directly to the wrong site and most people won’t fall for it – but they should still be careful and check the identity of the person supposedly sending them the invite to join Google+.”
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