An email claiming to be from 123greetings.com directs users to a “get rich quick” website via a Google shortened link.

The message is simple and instructs the user to click on the link in order to view the electronic card. However, accessing the address leads to a website that mimics the appearance of the legitimate 123greetings.com.

Instead of a greeting card, the visitor is informed that for $97/71 EUR they can reach earnings of at least $5,000 (3,671 EUR) “by the end of the week” and the investment is to be recovered in an hour’s time.

Security researchers from Symantec analyzed the scam and noticed that the message appeared to be sent from an Amazon IP address, judging by the email header. This, combined with spoofing the address of the e-card site could diffuse users’ suspicions that this might be a scam.

The user is not asked to sign-up right away, even if the link is present on the web page. First, the scammer wants the contact details to add them to future spam campaigns and to contact the victim in order to convince them to sign up; a follow-up call or email can only increase the trust in the alleged money making scheme.

It seems that the domain of the web page has been registered on June 17 in Panama, but details regarding the owner are not available because the privacy policy is enabled.

A variation of this campaign has been spotted by the security researchers using an impersonation of the BBC News website. In this case, the scammers even posted links pointing to legitimate BBC articles.

However, plastered in a visible spot is a fake news telling of a woman who earns about $8,000/5,900 EUR a month, with an advance payment of just $97/71 EUR.

The fact that the sum is not converted to British pounds should ring an alarm bell, and reading the text also reveals that the piece was not written by a professional.

Although this type of scam does not pose a high risk to users, many of them can fall victim after being distracted by the promise of making a lot of money in a very short amount of time, with very little effort.

Emails landing in the inbox folder out of the blue and promising incredible benefits (financial or otherwise) must be viewed with a high dose of skepticism, as most of the time, the links included inside lead to malicious locations.
Kepler Reviewed by Kepler on . “Get Rich Quick” Spam Spoofs 123greetings.com Address http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Get-Rich-Quick-Spam-Spoofs-123greetings-com-Address.jpg An email claiming to be from 123greetings.com directs users to a “get rich quick” website via a Google shortened link. The message is simple and instructs the user to click on the link in order to view the electronic card. However, accessing the address leads to a website that mimics the appearance of the legitimate 123greetings.com. Instead of a greeting card, the Rating: 5