A phishing scam is currently making its way around the Internet over various instant messaging networks. Potential victims receive an IM containing a link which tries to trick them into giving up their Google username and password.
People are receiving messages from their friends telling them to click on a link — clicking that link puts the phishing scam in motion. You are asked for your Google login credentials which are then stolen and used to target all of your contacts with the same phony chat message. The link appears in the form of http://tinyurl.com/[random letters/numbers]. NewTeeVee says the source of the phishing scam is a site called ViddyHo. Mozilla has already flagged ViddyHo.com as “Reported Web Forgery” in their Firefox web browser.
If you get any messages asking you to click on a TinyURL link, even from friends, think twice. Maybe even thrice.
News of the ViddyHo phishing scam is quickly spreading through social networking sites. I spotted Video blogger Sarah Austin’s warning about the scam on Twitter, followed by Kevin Fox’s phishing PSA on FriendFeed. If you want to stay on top of things, searching these sites should get you up-to-the-minute information and conversations : “phishing” on Twitter, “phishing” on FriendFeed.
