It is sad in a time when national attention is being drawn to the unfortunate tragedy that recently took place at Virginia Tech that we need to be reminded of those who may use this incident to try and scam the public. US CERT [United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team] has posted on their site just such a warning.

The US-CERT states:

“In recent years, US-CERT has received reports of an increased number of phishing sites set up in the wake of tragedies and natural disasters. US-CERT reminds users to remain cautious when receiving unsolicited email that could be a potential phishing attempt.

Phishing emails may appear as requests for donations from a charitable organization asking the users to click on a link that will then take them to a fraudulent web site that appears to be a legitimate charity. The users are then asked to provide personal information that can further expose them to future compromises.

Users are encouraged to take the following measures to protect themselves from this type of phishing attack:

• Do not follow unsolicited web links received in email messages.
• Contact your financial institution immediately if you believe your account and/or financial information has been compromised.
• Verify the legitimacy of the email by contacting the company directly through a trusted contact number.
• Visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group for more information on known phishing attacks.”

Please be careful in reading any unsolicited emails that you may receive from unknown parties that may be looking to scam you. It is unfortunate because I am sure there will be legitimate organizations who are really trying to assist those who have suffered from this gave tragedy. It may be very difficult to separate th good ones from the bad, so use your best judgment.

[tags]warning, us-cert, tragedy, virginia tech, email, scams, [/tags]