Phishers and spammers are exploiting worldwide fear of swine flu [1] to sell pharmaceutical products and steal personal information from anxious e-mail users, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) reports.

US-CERT is aware of public reports [2] of email scams circulating related to the Swine Flu. The attacks arrive via an unsolicited email message typically containing a subject line related to the Swine Flu. These email messages may contain a link or an attachment. If users click on this link or open the attachment, they may be directed to a phishing website or exposed to malicious code.

US-CERT's advice remains the same for avoiding phishing scams: if you don't know who sent you the e-mail, don't click on any links within it and keep your antivirus software up-to-date.

Phishers have a tendency to exploit any fear to victimize new marks. Last year after Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna, cybercriminals registered hurricane-related domain names [3] to trick unsuspecting people into giving relief and donations to fake charities.

Hat tip: C/NET [4]