Where there are swine flu fears, there are scammers

Scammers have been flooding the Internet with e-mails peddling counterfeit drugs as cures for the swine flu virus, warn offcials of McAfee Inc., the computer security firm.

Many of the e-mails direct recipients to fake online pharmacies, where crooks steal credit card data and other information, said the firm’s director of research, Dave Marcus.

He estimated that swine flu scams accounted for 3% to 4% of all e-mail spam today.

Some of the subject lines of e-mails you might simply want to delete:

• First US swine flu victims!

• US swine flu statistics

• Salma Hayek caught swine flu!

• Swine flu worldwide!

• Swine flu in Hollywood!

• Swine flu in USA

And, of course:

• Madonna caught swine flu!

-- Thomas Maugh II

Comments

[DontGetit]

Why does a flu bug that has gotten 50 people mildly sick...

Ahhhhhhh Choooo

Excuse me - getting people so upset. Come on, there's plenty of...

Ahhhhhh Choooo

I'm back - more serious illnesses out there all the time, the big C, heart disease, Liver disease...

Hold on, I need to find some tissues...

Anyway, a summer cold is a summer cold - I'm not running to the doctor for some sniffles and a bit of fever.

I do have the uncontrollable urge to roll in mud and eat corn!

Coincidence? I think not...