If you happen to be an Origin Energy customer, you might want to double check any recent bills. It seems Origin Energy is getting nothing but bad luck lately, as they’ve been hit with another string of malware attacks.
This is the fourth time in the last two months that Origin Energy has suffered from a cyber-attack. The sad thing is that the malware is executed via emails in an easily identifiable way.
“According to email-filtering company MailGuard, which identified the hoax, a domain registered in Cyprus is understood to be behind the latest incident.
The email distribution began on Monday and was sent to hundreds of thousands of emails, with both Origin and the police warning people not to click on the link.
Origin also tweeted an alert on Monday, warning customers to ignore the email hoax.”
Customers that use this company need to be aware. The malware-infested emails, executed by clicking on the provided links, appear as if Origin Energy sent them. However, the actual email address appears as: noreply@originenergy.com.au.
The email reads,
“Dear Customer,
Here’s your latest bill from Origin showing what you’ve used and how much to pay. If anything’s unclear, jump online to originenergy.com.au or give us a call on 1300 661 925 – we’ll be happy to help.
All the best,
The Origin Team.
PS Don’t forget to pay by the due date, or you may have to pay a $12.00 late payment fee.”
There are easy ways to avoid this scam. For starters, no matter what company you get utilities through, you should always be weary of links. Try making it a habit to navigate to the specific websites without clicking on the links.
Otherwise, keep an eye out for suspicious details in the email that don’t normally appear. If your bill is suddenly twice its normal amount, then chances are you aren’t looking at your actual bill.
Or maybe you are. If that’s the case . . . yikes.