The email message below: "You have been issued with a traffic infringement," which appears as if it was sent by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), is a fake and contains a link that will take the recipients to a malicious website, that will attempt to trick them into downloading and infecting their computers with a virus, Trojan horse, spyware or some other malware.
It is important to note that The Australian Federal Police doesn't send out traffic infringement notices via email, so recipients who have received the same email message or something similar, are asked to delete them.
The Fake Traffic Infringement Notice Email
AFP
Australian Federal Police
TRAFFIC INFRINGEMENT NOTICE
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE
You have been issued with a traffic infringement:
Reason: negligent driving
Infringement No:
Date of issue:
Amount due:
Due date: To see more information please view your infringement notice. see your traffic infringement
Payment must be made within 14 days from the date of service of the infringement notice or the reminder notice.
You may apply for an extension to pay the infringement notice penalty, or to dispute the liability, within 28 days from the date of service of either the infringement notice or the reminder notice.
This is automatically generated message, please visit to unsubscribe.
The scammers have made the email message look legitimate by using AFP logos and have made the email message appears as if it came from the following domain names:
- TrafficInfringement.afp.org
- TrafficInfringement.afp.com
But, the domain names are not associated with the Australian Federal Police:
The legitimate AFP website is located at the following domain: afp.gov.au
The AFP said that persons who have received the fraudulent and malicious email message, should report it to the Australian Cyber Crime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) immediately via http://www.acorn.gov.au/ or to ScamWatch at http://www.scamwatch.gov.au.
Now, if you have received one of the fake email messages and have clicked on the link in it and followed the instructions, please do a full scan of your computer with the antivirus software installed on it. If you don’t have antivirus software installed on your computer, please click here for a list of free antivirus software.