Dating virus lures romantics till they're broke

MANILA, Philippines - Accidental or curious clicks on spam e-mails claiming to be from dating sites and promising a prospective romance can lead to computer infections and even trap the hopeful user into giving money.

Multinational computer security company Kaspersky Laboratories said that such "honey traps" aim to dazzle a user with photos of attractive strangers purportedly interested to meet.

"One simple scam to loosen the users’ purse-strings is to demand registration or confirmation of age via a text message costing from 0.30 USD to 12 USD," Kaspersky spam analyst Tatyana Kulikova explained.

Kulikova added that the unsolicited e-mails are made to look like as if they are from popular dating sites Match, Badoo or Mamba.ru.

"Fake dating sites not only pose risks associated with phishing or malware – they can also jeopardize the wealth of the unwary user," Kulikova said.

Letters from Africa

A popular romance-related junk mail that has been in operation for years is called "Nigerian spam," masking as love letters from a girl in a distant, afflicted country.

The future groom's initial correspondence with the messages from his would-be African "bride" would eventually reveal that she is an heiress to a million-dollar inheritance.

To rescue her and the money from the war-torn area, however, the fiancé would be asked to shell out for legal services and to send airfare.

"The first emails from the potential patsy are answered by a robot but once the fraudsters understand they have got a chance, they immediately enter into the correspondence," Kulikova said.

The virus expert also explained, however, that very few people fall into the scam as not every one would choose to follow "their heart rather than their head."

Still, malicious scam and spam creators never run out of creativity and ideas.

"Processing a potential victim can last a long time and here an individual approach and an understanding of psychology are especially important," Kulikova said

Staying clear

The expert from among the world's top sellers of virus protection programs likewise suggested ways for users to avoid falling for deceiving mails and sites.

Kulikova, who said the Internet is not the safest place to search for romance, insisted that users should avoid unknown dating sites especially those they are led to by unsolicited e-mail messages.

"Do not open emails from unknown senders, and do not reply to emails if they seem suspicious," she also said.