Monster.com Hacked; Job Seekers Be Wary

08-31-2007
Contact: Glen Loyd
608-224-5007

Criminals hacking into the on-line recruiting site monster.com are sending emails to registered job seekers asking for personal financial data including bank numbers, says Janet Jenkins of the Wisconsin Office of Privacy Protection.

What’s more, Jenkins says the scammers encourage monster.com customers “to download a tool called ‘Monster Job Seeker,’ a malicious program file that causes harm to the user's PC and may encrypt data on the user's PC with threats to hold the encrypted data for ransom.”

 Everyone who has who has entered information on monster.com is at risk.  Jenkins advises:

• Consumers receiving any email from monster.com should send an email to siteabuse@monster.com to confirm the legitimacy of the email.
• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information
• Hackers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails to get people to react immediately
• They typically ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, date of birth, etc.
• Don't use the links in an email, instant message, or chat to get to any web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic
• Instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web address in your browser
• You should only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure website or the telephone.

For more information, call the Wisconsin Office of Privacy Protection: 1-800-422-7128.

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