That's why the lady is a scam

An email, claiming to be from a woman called Greta having difficulty with eBay, leads recipients to a "respond now" button which leads to a phishing website.

The email resembles one that a confused eBay user might send.

Hello,

I recently placed a bid on item#5600846099 being a wheelchair for me that I really need do to my age (87 years old) and it seems that I can not find the auction anymore...

May I please know if you are the seller of the item above?

Regards,

Greta.

"This phishing attack is targeting Good Samaritans, who will think they are helping an elderly lady with her online auction," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at antivirus company Sophos. "Even if people click on the link to reply that they are unable to help, they are handing their confidential login details to hackers."

The news arrives in the same week SC reported phishers are using increasingly varied tactics to snare their prey, including spoofing an email from an irate customer threatening to call "the authorities."

Industry experts suggest the trend is likely to continue. "There seems to be no depths to which phishers, virus writers and criminal hackers are not prepared to stoop to steal money from innocent people," said Cluley.

www.sophos.com