Hackers scamming Virgin Media consumers with phishing emails

By Konrad Krawczyk December 4, 2013

washington post hacked chinese origin suspected hacker — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Are you a Virgin Media customer based in the U.S., U.K. or Australia? You may want to sit up and take notice then.

Hackers are targeting Virgin Media’s consumer base with fake e-mails warning them that their account billing subscription is about to end and that their email is about to be suspended. The email then asks the user to confirm their account information and click on a link contained within the email. Once the link is clicked, the user is tasked with providing both their personal information and financial data. Deception complete.

Virgin is fully aware of the phishing attempts, and has issued this statement, accompanied by a sample of the fake emails, on its official page:

“We have been informed about the email below. It was NOT sent by Virgin Media and should not be responded to. Do NOT visit the link included in the mail or respond.”

If acquired, the stolen data could then be used for any number of crimes, including identification theft, financial fraud and more. Virgin Media offers a multitude of services, including mobile phone, Internet access and TV as well.

Companies like Virgin will warn its customers that its employees would never ask them to provide the confirmation that’s sought after in the fake emails. If you receive such an email or any similar messages, you can always enter the contents of the email into Google to find out whether anyone else has reported that the messages are indeed attempts at swiping user data.

After all, a little due diligence can go a long way.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock/Sergey Peterman

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Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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