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An increase in phishing attacks imminent as Olympic games begin

Internet users are being warned to be more vigilant as the Olympic games come into town as cyber crooks will be out to cause more online threats and internet security mischief.

Users are being warned that an increase in spamming, malware and phishing attacks is imminent, which normally happens around the time of large sporting events like the Beijing Olympics or major sporting tournaments.

"At key global sporting and social events we often see a big rise in internet security attacks, which ranges from simple spam attacks to websites relating to those events being compromised," said Richard Archdeacon, director Symantec Global Security.

"As expected, the Beijing Olympics is gearing up to be one of the biggest events of the year and hackers and spammers will see it as a massive opportunity to compromise the unwary."

Users should especially be wary of Olympic themed messages, as many phishing attacks are likely to hide under such, with some messages declaring recipients winners of the Olympic lottery, reports CSO Online.

Consumers are warned that responding to such a message may lead to exposure to online threats.

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