Targeted Scam Threatening DDOS Attacks

In a typical 419 scam message, we usually see lottery winning notifications, mentions of next of kin, or fake business offers. Often we observe spammers creating fake stories tying in with disasters or news linked to users' emotions. In a recent targeted scam tactic, spammers have created a fake story threatening users about a DDOS attack on their website.
In this latest spam campaign, the spammer claims to be a hacker owning a huge network capable of a DDOS attack, and threatens users that their website will be brought down with a DDOS attack if they fail to shell out $200. The domain name mentioned in the spam message is legitimate and its registrant dates are old. There are intentional spelling mistakes in the message in an effort to evade content-based antispam filters.
In this targeted attack, the “To” header is an email address provided in the registrant contact details for the domain. And the “Subject” header follows a format similar to “Hosting - Important Updates and Information”, which helps the email to appear as if it has been sent by the hosting service provider.
Below is an example of the spam message:

Attempts of gathering personal information or money by using tactics similar to those mentioned here are very common in scam attacks. Symantec recommends that users ignore emails from unknown senders and use (continue reading...)