Beware of invites to Google docs: Phishing attack ‘spreading like crazy’

A malicious email is spreading through the internet like wildlife and it includes an invitation to view a Google Doc.

Users are asked to click on the link, which ultimate gives the hackers behind the attack access to the contents of their Google accounts, including email, contacts and documents.

Not only are victims’ accounts controlled by a malicious party, but if users follow the instructions, the same email is sent to anyone they have ever emailed and their contacts.

The scam seems to have surfaced sometime Wednesday afternoon and appeared to first target journalists – many reports from BuzzFeed, Hearst, New York Magazine and Gizmodo reported receiving the infected email.

However, looking at one of the emails shared by Joe Berstein from Buzzfeed, it is clear to see that something is just not right.

The malicious emails appeared to be addressed to ‘hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@mailinator.com’ with recipients BCCed.

Victims have noted that the email sender may be someone you know or who is one of your contacts.

Users are asked to click on a link to view a document, which provides the hackers access to the contents of their Google accounts, including email, contacts and online documents, according to security experts who reviewed the scheme.

Clicking the malicious link takes users to a real Google-hosted page that presents them with a list of their accounts, TechCrunch reported.

MORE HERE: Phishing scam is using Google Docs to trick users | Daily Mail Online