We are seeing a large number of attacks in the past few weeks related to this type of scam. Please be aware and proceed with cation when sharing your email password with anyone or anysite.
You may receive an email from a friend, family member, collegue, or business partner letting you know they have shared a document with you via Google Docs.
The content is similar to this:
I uploaded using Google docs Click HERE and sign in with your personal email to view the important document.
Upon clicking the link you will be presented with a choice of login types (Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc)
By entering the details into the system, you are providing the attackers with your email and password, after which time they will then proceed to email your contacts and most contacted email addresses with the same message you just received.
To stop the access, you must change your password immediately, this will sever the connection, but your contacts have already been mined. You should alert your contacts that your account was compromised and ensure they do not enter their details in the login page.
Your system has not been infected with malware, this is a social phishing attack designed to mine contact data for spammers and marketers.
malware and av scanners are missing these attacks because the root sites are changing too rapidly, the emails are coming from legitimate contacts and hosts, and you are not downloading or installing anything.
If you are ever uncertain about these types of emails, please call us first so we can help out before your data is compromised.