Amount one reader was charged in a fake BT bill -

What’s the threat?

Scammers are once again trying to trick people into thinking their computers have been locked by the deadly Wannacry ransomware. They are sending emails designed to cause panic, hoping recipients will pay the ransom, which is $650 in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

The crudely written email claims all your devices have been hacked and your files encrypted. It comes from the ‘Wannacry-hack-team’, has the mis-spelled subject line ‘!!!Attantion Wannacry!!!’ (see screenshot) and reads: “All the information will be encrypted and then erased. Antivirus software will not be able to detect our program, while firewalls will be forceless against our unique code. Should your files be encrypted, you will lose them forever”.

However, this a brazen lie. Your devices and files are safe. There’s a clue in the email, which boasts that Wannacry infects all operating systems - Android, IOS, Linux, Mac OS - not just Windows. Another lie.

Action Fraud said it received almost 300 reports about the email in just two days at the end of June.

How can you stay safe?

Make a mental note that fraudsters will always try to exploit the fear surrounding high-profile malware - and few attacks have ever made as many headlines as last year’s Wannacry.

Between 12 and 15 May 2017 it crippled IT systems around the world, including those running NHS computers, forcing nearly 20,000 appointments to be cancelled. The chaos still lingers in the public’s mind.

This isn’t the first time scammers have exploited the notoriety of Wannacry. Within days of the attack last May they sent emails claiming to be from BT warning of “security breaches on an international scale” (see the email on Action Fraud’s site: www.snipca.com/28279).