A new phishing campaign, looking to terrify its potential victims, is posing as WannaCry and falsely claiming it will infect PCs with its namesake ransomware unless the user pays a hefty bitcoin ransom. Further digging however, shows the scam is a fraud, playing on the fears of those who happen to find a copy of this email in their inbox.
The message claims that all files on their system, no matter the platform (IOS, Windows, Linux, Android or macOs) will be permanently deleted if the ransom is not paid. However, WannaCry can only infect Windows systems, which make these threats not only inaccurate, but impossible to execute.
Despite the fact the scam lacks the teeth needed in order to make good on it's deletion threat, the wallet setup to collect the ransomware is all too real, and at its core the phishing campaign is "simply an exercise to extort money," according to the UK's Action Fraud. However, those who receive the email are being told to delete and then report it to the proper authorities.
Head over to ZDNet to view a screenshot of the phishing email.
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