DOJ Alerts Users To Spam HoaxDOJ Alerts Users To Spam Hoax

Beware of any e-mails that appear to be from the Department of Justice.

The DOJ issued a warning about fraudulent spam claiming to be from the government agency and notifying recipients that complaints, which have been forwarded to the IRS, have been filed against them or their businesses. The e-mails even may have a DOJ logo at the top of the message body, and provide a phony case number and name the person who made the so-called complaint.

The e-mails are a hoax and users should never click on any links inside of them or respond in any manner, warned the DOJ in an advisory.

"These spam e-mail messages are bogus and should be immediately deleted," noted the advisory. "The Department of Justice did not send these unsolicited e-mail messages, and would not send such messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have been recently perpetrated in the names of various governmental entities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service. E-mail users should be especially wary of unsolicited warning messages that purport to come from U.S. governmental agencies directing them to click on file attachments or to provide sensitive personal information."

In May, a similar spam scam was launched, trying to make users believe the messages were coming from the Better Business Bureau. In that case, the spoofed e-mail, which appeared to be from the bureau, contained a Microsoft Word attachment. While the e-mail claimed the attachment held more information about the complaint, it actually held a Trojan downloader that tried to install a keylogger, which then tried to steal information and send it to an IP address in Malaysia.

In a previous spam scam last February, the Better Business Bureau name was used in a phishing attack that hit U.S. and Canadian consumers and businesses.

In this case with the DOJ scam, the government did not release information about what malware might be attached to the bogus e-mails.

Anyone who receives one of these phony messages, should report it at the Internet Crime Complaint Center' Web site, the DOJ said.

The government also set up it's "On Guard-Online" Web site so consumers can learn more about how to protect themselves from bogus e-mails and spyware.