Don’t open it. Or, at least DO NOT click on the link it contains.
What will this now-popular hacker email look like?
It will be an email from SOMEONE YOU KNOW that looks like this.
(Again, DO NOT click the link!)
How This Hack-Attack Works
Here’s what’s going on, just so you understand how the attack works.
Step 1: The places you’re being directed to click on are linked to the site that the hacker wants you to visit with your Internet browser.
If you click the link, your computer will be infected with malware that the hacker needs to get onto your computer. The infection will happen within milliseconds after the bad web page loads into your browser.
Within a few minutes (or maybe it’ll be a few days) your computer will start sending emails out from you to people that you know. (The hack will gain access to your address book) The emails going out from you will have the same message as the one you received. And if your friends click on the evil link they’ll have their computers infected, too.
Step 2: The emails that go out from you will be sent to the recipient as a ‘bcc’ (blind carbon copy). The hacker uses the “bcc trick” so that they can send emails to a bunch of people in your address book, all at one time. No one sees that it’s a “blast email” because most people don’t pay attention enough to notice it’s a “bcc email,” or if they do, well that brings up…
The “Real Secret” To Hacking
Hackers use basic psychology to get people to click the evil links (the buzzword for hacker-driven psychology ploys is “social engineering”).
Hackers know that you will almost certainly (1) open an email from someone you know (because they hacked that person’s email account), and probably (2) be curious enough about a short mysterious message (or attachment) and therefore click on the link that it refers to.
As we said, most people don’t notice that an email is sent to them as a “bcc,” or if they do, then they’re even more curious and tempted to click on the evil link.
Important Takeaway
Train yourself RIGHT NOW to always check to see if you’ve been “bcc’d” on an email and be especially cautious about those. And never click a link in an email with a short message, especially if it’s from someone you know (if you weren’t specifically expecting to receive it).
Hackers are clever at using technology, but they depend on basic psychology even more. You may not understand the technology that they use, but now you know a lot more about the simple psychological ploys that they rely on to get into your computer.