ユーザーの関心を引こうとして、スパムメールでは、このイベントで人気を呼びそうな内容を紹介したうえで、参加費用は「格安」で追加料金もいっさい不要と謳っています。URL をクリックすると、偽広告が掲載された Web サイトにリダイレクトされます。
図 2. 海賊版の Web サイト。正規サイトと似ているが、連絡先情報（緑の線で囲まれた部分）が異なる
図 3. オリジナルの正規のイベント Web サイト
注目に値するのは、偽の Web サイトに信憑性を持たせるために、オンラインの訪問者を観測するウィジェットをページの左下に追加し、オンラインユーザー数と称してランダムな数字を表示している点です。このスパム攻撃の主な動機は、ユーザーを誘い出してその個人情報や口座情報を手に入れることにあります。十分に注意を払い、リンクはクリックしないようにしてください。
このスパム攻撃で確認されている件名の例を以下に挙げます。
件名: DanceGrandPrixEurope from the 12th to 16th June 2013. Competition for Dance Schools/Groups from all over.（ダンスグランプリヨーロッパ、2013 年 6 月 12 日から 16 日まで開催。世界中のダンススクールやグループが競う）
件名: Grand Prix Spain. Competition for Dance Schools&Groups from the 12th to 16th June 2013.（グランプリはスペインで開催。ダンススクールとグループのための競技会、2013 年 6 月 12 日から 16 日まで）
件名: Greetings from all of us at Dance grand Prix Europe Season 2013! As Holiday Season approaches. GIFT YOURSELF & Your School/Groups a “DanceYear” 2013 to remember! Book our European Dance Competitions now!（ダンスグランプリヨーロッパ、2013 シーズン開幕のお知らせ! ホリデーシーズンを前に、記念すべき「2013 ダンス年」を祝してあなた自身にも、スクールやグループにも贈り物はいかがですか。ヨーロッパダンス競技会の参加予約は、今すぐ!）
Contributor: Avdhoot Patil
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The International Dance Competition “Dance Grand Prix Europe” is set to begin June 12 and will be hosted in Spain. The purpose of the competition is to showcase all the top dancers from various dance schools and this major event attracts choreographic talent from around the world. Spammers also don’t want to miss this event and the opportunity to circulate a scam.
Figure 1. Dance Grand Prix Europe 2013 spam
To grab the reader’s attention, the spam email reveals some appealing facts about the event along with “only a little fee” required but no additional charges for participation in the event. Clicking the URL will automatically redirect the user to a website containing a bogus offer.
Figure 2. Pirated website looks like original, changed contact information (green box)
Figure 3. Original and legitimate event website
Interestingly, to trick users into trusting the fake website, spammers also added a widget at the bottom left of the page that monitors online visitors and displays a random number of users online. The main motive of these spam campaigns is to lure recipients and acquire their personal and financial information. Users should be careful and avoid clicking the links.
Some of the subject lines observed in this spam campaign include the following:
Subject: DanceGrandPrixEurope from the 12th to 16th June 2013. Competition for Dance Schools/Groups from all over.
Subject: Grand Prix Spain. Competition for Dance Schools&Groups from the 12th to 16th June 2013.
Subject: Greetings from all of us at Dance grand Prix Europe Season 2013! As Holiday Season approaches. GIFT YOURSELF & Your School/Groups a “DanceYear” 2013 to remember! Book our European Dance Competitions now!
Symantec advises users to be cautious when handling unsolicited or unexpected emails related to the Dance Grand Prix Europe 2013 and to update antispam signatures regularly. Symantec also monitors spam attacks around-the-clock to ensure users are kept up to date on the latest threats.
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