Yahoo passwords stolen, accounts blocked

Users of Yahoo services again found themselves the target of fraudsters who stole their credentials and blocked their accounts, a security vendor said this week.

 

The latest attacks used e-mails that appeared to be from a biology education platform and eluded antispam filters, warning victims their accounts were deleted.

 

"Users are tricked to give away their credentials with well-crafted e-mails about a fake 'Yahoo! Email Deletion,'" Bitdefender said in a blog post.

 

It said the email tells the subscriber he or she had requested his or her email account deactivated.

 

The mail then instructed the prospective victim to click on a link to "cancel" the deactivation request, or the email account "will be deactivated and deleted within 24 hours.”

 

Scammers even "advised" the victims about the dangers they’re exposed to online.

 

Bitdefender also warned PayPal users of a similar trick.

 

"Cyber-criminals manage to steal their login details through a message that replicates official e-mails of the payment company. PayPal is one of the most targeted organizations in phishing attacks," it added.

 

Bitdefender said this was the latest threat to face Yahoo users, whose accounts were hijacked earlier this year with an XSS-type attack.

 

In 2012, it added Yahoo users were also targeted by several phishing attacks.— TJD, GMA News