Australian business owners have been warned to avoid clicking a malicious email claiming to be from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), with the high-risk message containing hidden ransomware. The email was distributed to tens of thousands of addresses just as people arrived at work this morning, and has been labeled as one of the largest-scale fraud email inundations seen in recent times.
This is the second large-scale fraud email purporting to be from ASIC in recent times, with MailGuard identifying a similar scam in late January.As outlined via the ASIC website, scammers have been contacting registry customers asking them to pay fees and give personal information to renew their business or company name.
Dos and don’ts
- Do not respond to any message claiming to be from Australia Securities & Investment Commissions (ASIC).
- Do keep anti-virus software up to date.
- Do not click any links on a suspicious email.
- Do not give any sensitive information through email
