Malware marketers have captured my customer scenario: turns out I am the type with a guilty conscience. I will open (and consider real until I snap myself out of it) any email that purports to tell me I’ve done something I probably should not have done, like purchased clothes I don’t need, or driven too fast. The latest in this trend is an email from the Better Business Bureau telling me that I’ve upset a customer – is there any worse sin for a marketer?
OK, the email was not really from the BBB, just pretending to be. In order to see the so-called customer’s concern, I need to view the enclosed document (a pity, there was nothing enclosed – I might have opened it and gotten infected that way), and to respond to the complaint, I can “click here” – aha, here’s the malware.
Lesson #1: Stop feeling so guilty about stuff you have no control over
Lesson #2: Stop feeling guilty about stuff you never even did in the first place
Lesson #3: Don’t click on emails that make you feel guilty unless you are 100% sure they are from your mother & you really did forget to clean your room.
Message Contents:
Attn: Owner/Manager
The Better Business Bureau has been filed the above-referenced complaint from one of your customers on the subject of their dealings with you.
The detailed information about the consumer’s concern is presented in enclosed document.
Please review this matter and notify us of your position.
We encourage you to click here to respond this complaint.
We look forward to your urgent reply.
Yours faithfully,
Anita Emil
Better Business Bureau
________________________________________
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
Phone: 1 (703) 276.0100
Fax: 1 (703) 525.8277