New Spam Scam Exploits Pope's Death

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A new spam campaign is exploiting people’s interest in and grief over the

death of Pope John Paul II.

The spam claims to offer readers a free collection of books written by

the late pope. The email tells users to click on a link to receive the

gift, but the link actually takes them to a Web site offering ”free

money-making advice”.

”This is absolutely slimy,” says Carole Theriault, a security

consultant with Sophos, Inc., an anti-virus and anti-spam company with

U.S. headquarters in Lynnfield, Mass. ”We started seeing this scam over

the weekend, soon after the pope’s funeral… They’re using the pope’s

name with all the news surrounding his death and the emotional investment

to fool people.”

Pope John Paul II’s funeral was held Friday, April 8.

Theriault says this is just the latest example of spammers using current

headlines and emotional topics to lure people in.

”We’re seeing an increasing amount of spam using current events to get

into people’s inboxes,” she says. ”They’re stealing headlines from CNN

to try to bypass simple spam filters… It’s tasteless. People don’t like

being mislead. If they want a book on Pope John Paul II, they don’t want

to be misdirected to a site about money-making secrets.”

Theriault notes that similar spam campaigns were launched soon after the

Dec. 26 tsunami crisis.

”Spammers are prepared to plumb the depths in their attempt to get

Internet users to buy their goods or services,” adds Graham Cluley,

senior technology consultant for Sophos. ”The pope’s death has been

mourned by millions around the world, yet for the spammers it’s just

another opportunity to sell their unwanted wares.”

Theriault says she doesn’t think this particular campaign will be a

long-lasting one.

”We expect this particular spam campaign to die out
as the stories about the pope’s death and funeral
trickle from our news bulletins,” she says. ”However, we can be
sure that spammers will try and capitalise on the next
world event, be it a disaster or a triumph.”