US-CERT issues warning over potential Hurricane Matthew scams

Cyber scammers are out looking to make a buck using Hurricane Matthew as a lure, according to US-CERT.

US-CERT issued a warning telling people not to respond to any email with a subject line, attachment or link referring to the storm, which battered Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Even emails that appear to be from a legitimate organization could be a fake.

“Fraudulent emails will often contain links or attachments that direct users to phishing or malware-infected websites. Emails requesting donations from deceptive charitable organizations commonly appear after major natural disasters,” the US-CERT statement warned.

Using Hurricane Matthew or any natural disaster or worldwide event, such as the Olympics, as part of a social engineering plan is standard practice for cybercriminals.