A bogus e-mail circulating to human resources departments in major US companies purporting to be from the government’s equal opportunities agency actually contains a computer virus.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is warning of a ‘phishing’ e-mail circulating to companies that claims to be regarding a harassment complaint.
The e-mail contains a virus that is “likely to harm the recipient’s computer” if the user clicks on the weblink and/or downloads the attached file, the EEOC said.
Phishing e-mails typically attempt to acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and other details.
The e-mail has a subject line of “Harassment Complaint Update For” and contains links where the respondent can allegedly access details of a fake discrimination claim. The phoney content includes an EEOC logo and a heading that reads “Employer Liability for Harassment”.
The letter advises firms to download and print a copy of the complaint by clicking on a link, which installs the virus on the user’s computer.
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While the EEOC routinely notifies employers when an employee discrimination charge is filed, it has repeated that this process is always done through the post.
An EEOC statement said: “If a company receives an e-mail notification which purports to advise the respondent of the filing of a charge of employment discrimination with the EEOC, the federal agency urges users to delete it immediately.”
