Cybercriminals Go Phishing with Sony Ericsson Name
Mobile phone giant Sony Ericsson have been forced to issue a press release after their name has been illegally used in a number of spam and phishing attacks.
The terse announcement states that the Company is aware that: “…a series of unsolicited emails have been sent to members of the general public from an email address that appears to bear the name ‘Sony Ericsson’ and which tells that the recipient has won a sum of money in a competition and requests that certain personal data be confirmed.”
Another version of the hoax is an email which says that Sony Ericsson will give away a free laptop to users who forward promotional information. It includes not only a photograph of the Sony Ericsson logo, but also a ‘company’ contact name and number (both bogus). The Company points out that all its competitions and promotions are organised through official channels, including their own and partner websites.
A Sony Ericsson spokesperson warned:
“Please be wary of any competition or promotion that appears to come from outside of Sony Ericsson or Sony Ericsson’s partners official channels. Examples of these include via spam emails or SMS. Please do not reply to or forward the email if you receive it.”
Sony Ericsson go on to apologise for these emails, which they believe are solely for the fraudulent gathering of personal information, and hope that too much inconvenience has not been caused.
The Company ask that anyone effected by such attacks should contact them via an email: questions.gb@support.sonyericsson.com
This is just one of millions of such attacks which are known as phishing and the simple idea behind them is that cybercriminals will send out millions of hoax emails (many sent unknowingly via ‘zombie’ computers) which use company logos, addresses and phone numbers to lend them some degree of authenticity. To the practiced, or indeed jaded eye, then they are quite easy to spot. Poor quality reproduction of the logo and layout of the company identity; incorrect English with spelling and grammatical mistakes; and, a bullying message (‘…send back personal information or we cut your service…’), are all dead give-aways that the email is a hoax. In short, if the respondent has any doubts advise computer security experts, then never reply.
Guest Article by Neil Camp
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My name is Alan Potts and I'm the Editor of the Antivirus-BUYability web site and Managing Director of BUYability Limited. You can connect with me or keep up to date with new posts on this blog via the following social media sites: 
