Bogus airline emails are something to watch out for, along with those supposedly from banks and courier companies.
At first glance the picture below looks a legtimate eticket confirmation from an airline.
But what you are looking at is a scam. Scammers are increasingly using travel-related emails as bait, according to security software company Bitdefender.
The company is warning of a growing incidence of fake airline confirmation or receipt emails.
The emails are used to deliver malware to unsuspecting recipients, either in the form of malicious attachments or links to web pages that have been designed or hijacked to deliver malware.
The “Your eTicket” email. According to Bitdefender, the attached file contains a Trojan with ability to "mess" with the user's operating system. [Source: Bitdefender)
One of the recent campaigns used the subject 'Your eTicket' and carried what was said to be "your eTicket... as a PDF document" but was really a zip archive containing a "very dangerous" piece of malware.
The bogus US Airways campaign ('Your US Airways flight') linked to web pages variously delivering advertising or malware.
Delta and US Airlines are targeted most commonly, according to Bitdefender.
Another example. Watch out for emails asking to confirm flight codes, warns Bitdefender.
We note Delta offers some of the cheapest fares between Sydney and Los Angeles - so if you're a budget-conscious trans-Pacific business traveller, be vigilant.
Bitdefender didn't provide examples of Australians or Australian airlines being specifically targeted. Still, it shows bogus airline emails are something to watch out for, along with those supposedly from banks and courier companies.
