Anti-spam experts at Sophos have discovered a spam campaign attempting to recruit Internet users to a "get rich quick" scheme by exploiting the popular fictional boy wizard, Harry Potter.
The Sophos global network of spam monitoring stations have sighted thousands of instances of an email claiming to be instructions on how to win a copy of the as-yet-unpublished next book by JK Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".
The emails claim that recipients can get a free copy of the book by clicking on a link, but this in fact takes users to a web site offering advice on "free money-making secrets", with no mention of the troubled teenage wizard.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos,
"A lot of people are trying to make a quick buck out of the Internet - and some are doing it in immoral or unethical ways. Web sites like this one need to pull in traffic and prospective customers somehow, and it appears they're now using the trick of pretending to offer a copy of the Hogwarts' hero's latest adventure."
Last week, Harry Potter author JK Rowling warned fans to beware Internet fraudsters who were phishing for credit card details by pretending to offer electronic copies of the new book online.
Sophos experts report that the spam campaign appears to originate from the area of Chicago.
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