Scamsters and hoax artists choose London Olympics as their next target
The distinctive Olympic 2012 London logo has been luring unsuspecting internet users into dozens of scams and hoaxes perpertrated by malicious virus writers and fraudsters from across the world.
The London 2012 Olympic committee has publicised details of a series of frauds circulating via email which have been attracting thousands of victims already.
Users of their London 2012 website have been warned to upgrade their virus software or install firewall software if their computer is left unprotected.
Scams incude fake competitions, warnings of hoax viruses, phoney press releases and even an organisation pretending to offer grants to young artists.
Many of the scams are supposedly from the Olympic lottery organisers. Genuine Olympic lotteries are being organised to help fund the Games, but internet users are warned not to open suspicious looking emails from phoney lotteries listed on their website.
Another tactic being employed by the scamsters is to use big brand names such as Coca Cola, Virgin or Ford to convince people that they have won a special prize in celebration of London winning the 2012 Olympic bid. Fraudsters have also been selling non-existent advertising space to businesses on the 2012 Olympic website, despite the fact that the official website offers no advertising whatsoever to commercial companies.
For full details of all the frauds which the Games organisers are aware about, and for more information about how to protect yourself, go to http://main.london2012.com/en/private/Fraud08-03-06-16-41.htm.
