Are you a week behind on your credit card payment? Are you sure?
Online crooks know that there's nothing like financial fear to make computer users pay attention, and to that end, a new wave of scams have popped up claiming that "Your Credit Card is one week overdue," researchers at the security firm Sophos reported.
The phony emails, which have subject lines such as "Your financial debt overdue," "Payment by credit card overdue" and "Credit Card overdue," include a 10-digit customer number, a pay date and a message that reads, "If you pay the debt within 2 days, there will be no extra charges. In 2 days $25 late fee and a finance charge will be imposed on your account."
Users who are tricked into opening the file attached to these messages run the risk of downloading Troj/Invo-Zip, a malicious Trojan that could give attackers remote access to their computer.
This is just the latest in a seemingly neverending campaign of social engineering scams aimed at fooling Web surfers into downloading harmful viruses.
If you receive emails like these, do not download any attached files, and if you are concerned about the status of your online bank account, contact your bank directly.