Cyber Thieves Target Account Data of Virgin Media Customers

E-mails allegedly sent by Virgin Media tell users their billing subscription expired and the associated e-mail account will be suspended unless they provide their login data, warns Virgin Media on their website.

But the message is fake – sent by cyber-crooks hoping to con its recipients into revealing account login details, personal and money-related information. Their targets are Virgin Media customers from the US, UK and Australia.

The expiration of the users’ account billing subscription allegedly triggers the suspension of the account. To prevent the suspension, the user has to click a link ” included in the message ” to be redirected to a page that requests personal and financial information.

Users fearful of suspension may not realize the provided data is destined for criminals who can use it for fraud, impersonations and character defamation.

Crooks chose Virgin Media because the company provides telephones, television and broadband internet services to millions of consumers and businesses all over the world, including the US, the UK and Australia.

Virgin Media issued a warning on its official web site regarding this incident. Users can visit this page to find out more information about attacks against Virgin Media clients. They can also use it to report any incidents they have come across and seek help from the community and professionals.

Image source: Virgin Media

Hoax Player gave readers a similar warning, informing them of these phishing e-mails circulating in the wild.

To avoid this kind of trap

– users should understand that a company like Virgin Media would never ask customers to type in sensitive information via e-mail. Whenever they receive this kind of messages, they should call the company or pay them a visit and ask for details

– users can also search the internet to see if others have received a similar message

– a reliable antivirus and updated software will make all the difference in such cases and shield users from all kinds of online attacks.

Deutsche Bahn, Amazon, Paypal, Bank of America, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC Holding, Barclays, Xerox, Lufthansa, and BBB are other institutions whose clients have been targeted with phishing e-mails in 2013.

All product and company names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners.