Media contact: Janet C. Hart, CFEE (704) 927-8617 office
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – April 29, 2009 – The Better Business Bureau is warning
consumers to be on the lookout for fraudulent emails and websites trying to
take advantage of the current swine flu outbreak and the growing public concern
over it.
“Scammers are
successful, because they use current headlines as hooks to catch a lot of
fish,” said Tom Bartholomy, BBB president. “With the global interest in a
potential pandemic of swine flu, scammers have a very large pond to go ‘phishing’
in.”
According
to McAfee Avert Labs, an online security company, spammers began pumping
out emails as soon as the first cases of swine flu were reported in the news,
accounting for two percent of all spam messages. According to other online
reports, more than 250 websites with the term “swine flu” have been registered
in the last few days. These emails and websites are marketing swine flu
‘vaccines,’ medicines and ‘survival’ kits.
The BBB offers
the following advice to avoid swine flu scams:
- Avoid opening emails, clicking on
links or opening attachments from unknown senders that could infect your
computer with spyware or malware to steal your personal information.
Instead, delete the emails or forward them to the Federal Trade Commission
at spam@uce.gov.
- Do not believe online offers for
vaccines against swine flu because a vaccine does not exist. For
information and updates on the swine flu outbreak, visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu.
- Check your anti-virus and
anti-spyware software to see they are up to date. If your computer becomes
infected as the result of spam email about swine flu, you can report it to
the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
For more
information, please visit The Better Business Bureau online at www.bbb.org or call the BBB at 1-877-317-7236
toll-free in N.C. and S.C.
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