Scammers use the title of Dalai Lama
Scammers use every big story in the news to their benefit. This time the top news story being pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar, a very scandalous issue of the time. After these demonstrations scammers have made spam-mail to fit the story. To be more precise, users get an email from someone in the office of Dalai Lama, with an attachment – a speech of his Holiness. The email looks like this:
Dear Friends & Colleagues, Please find enclosed a massage [sic] from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in support of the recent pro-democracy demonstrations taking place in Myanmar. This is for your information and can be distributed as you see fit.
Best wishes.
Tenzin Taklha
Joint Secretary
Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
the attachment is a Microsoft Word document, an extension trusted by users and one that usually slips by filters, since they usually strip messages of executable files and other obscure files only. The document is of course infected with malicious code, which, when executed can allow hackers to do virtually anything they please from stealing passwords, to partaking in mass-mailing schemes without the user’s knowledge or consent.
As disrespectful as this scam may seem, having in mind the Myanmar situation as well as the status of the Dalai Lama, this is no surprise, since hackers always tend to use such breaking news stories to further their cause.
In order to be protected against this and other such scams, users should have their software patched, but the best way is obviously not to open unsolicited mail whatsoever.
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