Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new phishing scheme is sweeping across Gmail inboxes everywhere, and experts are urging people to be aware so they can avoid the scheme.
The emails in question look official, too. The sent email looks like a harmless Google Documents invite with a button that takes you to your drive just like a normal invite. After clicking it, you are directed to your accounts where you choose which account to open. Redditors pointed out Wednesday that by clicking the Google Doc, it allows the phisher to receive full access to one’s emails.
Phishing (or malware) Google Doc links that appear to come from people you may know are going around. DELETE THE EMAIL. DON'T CLICK. pic.twitter.com/fSZcS7ljhu
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) May 3, 2017
@zeynep Just got this as well. Super sophisticated. pic.twitter.com/l6c1ljSFIX
— Zach Latta (@zachlatta) May 3, 2017
The scam was sweeping across the country Wednesday. One key to noticing if a Google Docs invite is fake is that emails are sent to “hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@mailinator.com.”
"Our team is aware of this issue and is currently investigating," a Google spokesperson wrote in a post Wednesday afternoon.
If you opened the Google Docs phishing email, here's how to fix:https://t.co/cucndZ39ad
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 3, 2017
If you see Google Docs, delete it pic.twitter.com/UH9bDgbqhK
