Airline Ticketing Email Scam
by Mr Credit CardThere is a new airline ticketing scam taken place as we speak. This attack uses email messages that appear to be from legitimate airlines and contain information about a bogus e-ticket. These email messages instruct the user to open the attachment to obtain the e-ticket. If a user opens this attachment, a file may be executed to infect the user’s system with malicious code.
Reports indicate that these messages have the following characteristics.
The subject line “E-Ticket#XXXXXXXXXX”
An attachment named “eTicket#XXXX.zip”
The email claims that the recipient’s credit card was charged around $500 and contains an attachment that appears to be the ticket and receipt.
Scammers use these programs to steal passwords such as online banking passwords. They may also use spyware to steal other personal information from you, such as documents that you have stored on your computer. Anyone who receives an unexpected email should obviously not open any attachments and should simply delete the email. Alternatively, you should contact the airline to confirm if a ticket was purchased in your name. But if you have not booked any airline ticket at all, then simply delete the email!
August 18th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I am in the uk and recieved one of these emails puporting to be from united airlines.I opened the email but not the attachment, then googled united airlines and rang them. The lady I spoke to assured me that it was not from them, and advised me to delete the email and attachment.Having used a credit card this week to book an airport hotel on an airport computer I am wondering if there is possibly a connection. I have various email addresses and this email appeared after the confirmation of my hotel booking made at a German Airport on a public computer…..