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Fake Subpoena Email Phishing Scam

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is alerting computer users about a new scam email that contains a fraudulent "court subpoena" purportedly from a federal district court in California, and instructs recipients that they are to appear and testify before a grand jury.

The New York Times reports that thousands of company executives nationwide have received the phony subpoena email messages which contain a link that, when opened, installs a program that records the user's computer keystrokes and forwards the information via the internet -- giving criminals access to passwords as well as personal and corporate information. View an Image of the Fake Subpoena Email (from the New York Times).

• FBI Press Release on Fake Subpoena Email
• N.Y. Times: Larger Prey are Targets of Phishing
• Tips for Safer Computing (FindLaw)
• The Internet: Articles, FAQs, and More (FindLaw)

Full post as published by FindLaw's Common Law on April 18, 2008 (boomark / email).