Small to medium businesses are the latest target of ‘phishing’ emails, this time purporting to be from the Government Insolvency Service. This latest clever and alarming scam is designed to cause enough panic to make you click the links contained in the email making you unwittingly download malware or ransomware on to your computer. Malware is designed to steal passwords, bank and PayPal details etc. and ransomware encrypts your files with the intent to force you to pay to have them returned.
In this particular instance, if you open the email on a mobile phone to click the link ‘Detailed Information’ or ‘Additional Data’ you will receive a notification saying ‘Not available from mobile devices, please use desktop computer.’ This is because the scammers want the information contained on your desktop computer. You must not click any of the links in this email! What would happen if you did click on the links, is that after being asked to submit a captcha, a .zip file containing a javascript file will be downloaded onto your computer. If you subsequently open and run this file, that is when the malware or ransomware is downloaded.
It does appear that Anti-Virus programmes are detecting these files, offering at least some protection. The site has also been identified by Google Chrome as a phishing site.
An announcement has been made from the Government Insolvency Service stating that they are aware of the emails and stating that they have not been sent by the Insolvency service. Their advice if you receive one of these emails is to delete it immediately without clicking on any of the links.
They are unable to offer any further assistance.
If this information is reaching you a little late, and you have already clicked on a link contained in one of these emails, contact NewGen IT on 01933 426129 and we will be happy to offer help and advice.