Big events and personalities are increasingly being used by hackers in a bid to

RELATED ARTICLES Ravindra Jadeja costliest player; goes to CSK for $2m Sahara withdraws Indian cricket team sponsorship Banks, Internet companies team up to fight spam No plan to censor internet: Telecom Secretary

dupe computer users. The latest lure is sporting events ranging from IPL to Fifa World Cup to the London Olympics.

Cyber criminals are sending spam messages and have poisoned search results to steal personal info, money and even hijack computers remotely, according to Abhinav Karnwal, product marketing manager – APEC, Trend Micro.

Ratnamala Dam Manna, director - security responses and technology, Symantec, said, “This is in keeping with excitement around the upcoming IPL, World Cup and the burgeoning broadband population. The IPL may very well be the perfect storm to bait Indian users. We are already noticing spam offering users IPL alerts.”

To give an example, one spam mail doing the rounds is advertising subscription for IPL match alerts for $5 and a chance to win two tickets and accommodation for the finals in Mumbai.

The soccer World Cup 2010 has already attracted its first classic lottery scam. According to MessageLabs Intelligence, users are being spammed with an email apparently from the “Canada Lottery - Soccer World Cup 2010 Promotional Draw”. The basic premise is that the recipient has won a large sum of money, and in order to get the winnings, needs to contact someone or email personal details to an email address.

Symantec investigators have come across an email offering cheap hotel accommodation for the Fifa tournament. The mail offers the recipient a chance to book cheap accommodation at the World Cup.

Karnwal said, “IPL and World Cup are big-ticket events where there is lot of money involved. Most people are buying tickets online and a lot of team related merchandise is being sold.”

Mindful of this, Easy Bill, a company selling IPL tickets, has taken safety measures. Rahul Munjal, MD, Easy Bill said, “We have outsourced the online ticketing process to a top 5 tech firm, which means there will be their level of security in all transactions.”