Regular readers of Scamicide, which I hope you either are or soon will be, are familiar with past Scams of the day in which I have told you about who are the most dangerous people, generally women, on the Internet.  The list changes every year, but these are people who because of their popularity with the public are also popular with hackers and identity thieves who will set up phony websites or send emails with tainted links relating to these popular figures.  Clicking on links in these emails or websites or downloading material from these emails or websites will result in your unwitting downloading of dangerous malware that can steal all of the information from your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone and use that information to make you a victim of identity theft.

Not long ago Forbes Magazine proclaimed Angelina Jolie the highest paid actress in show business.  Capitalizing on this fact and interest in Jolie, identity thieves have been sending out emails with a subject line that reads “CNN: Forbes: Angelina Jolie tops list of highest-paid actresses.”  The email itself is a copy of the CNN story about Jolie, however, the story has been altered to include links that appear to be legitimate, but in fact will download dangerous keystroke logging malware that will steal information from your computer that will lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.

TIPS

You can never trust any link or attachment in an email or text message you receive.  Although the email may appear to be legitimate, the risk of having a tainted link or attachment is too great.  If you ever receive such an email or text, you are better off going to the original source, in this case CNN for any links that may relate to the story.  It is also important to keep your computer, tablet, and smartphone protected with the latest anti virus and anti malware software although you should not depend on them to keep you safe since the companies that create these security programs are always playing catch-up with the hackers and identity thieves who are out to steal your information.