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Suspension of Disbelief: magicians' friends targeted by new phishing scam
Security
Written by Danrok   
Monday, 05 December 2011 15:50

From ArsTechnica:

Last week, friends of Kyle and Kelly Peron got a disturbing email that appeared to be from the couple, a husband-and-wife magic act. It told of trouble overseas, claiming that the two had been mugged while vacationing briefly in the Phillipines. "We've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills," the email pleaded. "Please, let me know if you can help us out?"

If the email had been from the Perons, it would have been some serious magic—seeing as they were at home in the Philadelphia area at the time. Like many people who use social media to promote their businesses and keep in touch with colleagues and customers, the Perons' personal information was easily converted into a bit of social engineering that could fool the less skeptical.

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