Prophecies of doom in the wake of the EU Referendum are becoming harder and harder to read by the day, but now we have even more excuse to ignore emails forecasting political and economic Armageddon.
Security companies are reporting a surge in email scams, with cybercriminals aiming to capitalise on the fears of Brits.
Spam emails bearing titles “Brexit causes historic market drop,” are flooding email inboxes, only to saddle unsuspecting users with malware and spyware when opened.
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“A common ploy being used by cybercriminals is to send emails that references ‘Brexit causes historic market drop’ designed to create urgency in the recipient to click a link or open an attachment as a means of delivering malware.”
Related: British tech bigwigs on the effects of Brexit
It is thought that the scammers may be targeting those concerned about Brexit directly by monitoring social media posts, IP addresses and publicly displayed contact information.
Chappell says anyone who receives an email of this nature from an unknown source should delete them immediately.
Or, you know, you could open the attachment for a fate even worse than Brexit.
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Have you noticed any suspect emails lately? Share your experiences in the comments section below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
