Welcome to the IKCEST
Watch Out For the Newest Email Scam—Almost-Real Speeding Tickets

Some residents of the Philadelphia suburb Tredyffrin have reportedly been receiving emails notifying them of fictitious speeding tickets, and directing them to pay at a link that triggers a malware download.

So far, ho-hum, in our crazy cyberpunk futureworld. But there’s a lot more going on here, because, according to Tredyffrin police, the targeted drivers were actually speeding at the places and times indicated in the emails they received.

Think about that for a second.

Investigators suspect that the detail-oriented masterminds of this plot hacked a GPS-enabled smartphone app to obtain the location data and find actual speeders to target. So far, according to Philadelphia Magazine, only three local residents have reported receiving the emails.

This raises all kinds of questions. Most email scamming is based on mass volume and low success rates, but it’s hard to say how scaleable something this precisely targeted could be. Maybe whoever’s behind this is trying to invert the email scam paradigm, spooling exceptionally convincing bait out to a relative handful of people.

There may be one unanticipated roadblock to their plan, though–Tredyffrin apparently doesn’t have speed cameras, and real cops issue all citations in person. That could set off alarms for townies receiving the scam emails.

Tredyffrin police are also doing those targeted by the scam a big favor and not issuing them real tickets, despite their apparent confessions.

This article originally appeared on Fortune.com

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

More from Fortune.com:

Original Text (This is the original text for your reference.)

Some residents of the Philadelphia suburb Tredyffrin have reportedly been receiving emails notifying them of fictitious speeding tickets, and directing them to pay at a link that triggers a malware download.

So far, ho-hum, in our crazy cyberpunk futureworld. But there’s a lot more going on here, because, according to Tredyffrin police, the targeted drivers were actually speeding at the places and times indicated in the emails they received.

Think about that for a second.

Investigators suspect that the detail-oriented masterminds of this plot hacked a GPS-enabled smartphone app to obtain the location data and find actual speeders to target. So far, according to Philadelphia Magazine, only three local residents have reported receiving the emails.

This raises all kinds of questions. Most email scamming is based on mass volume and low success rates, but it’s hard to say how scaleable something this precisely targeted could be. Maybe whoever’s behind this is trying to invert the email scam paradigm, spooling exceptionally convincing bait out to a relative handful of people.

There may be one unanticipated roadblock to their plan, though–Tredyffrin apparently doesn’t have speed cameras, and real cops issue all citations in person. That could set off alarms for townies receiving the scam emails.

Tredyffrin police are also doing those targeted by the scam a big favor and not issuing them real tickets, despite their apparent confessions.

This article originally appeared on Fortune.com

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

More from Fortune.com:

Comments

    Something to say?

    Log in or Sign up for free

    Disclaimer: The translated content is provided by third-party translation service providers, and IKCEST shall not assume any responsibility for the accuracy and legality of the content.
    Translate engine
    Article's language
    English
    中文
    Pусск
    Français
    Español
    العربية
    Português
    Kikongo
    Dutch
    kiswahili
    هَوُسَ
    IsiZulu
    Action
    Related

    Report

    Select your report category*



    Reason*



    By pressing send, your feedback will be used to improve IKCEST. Your privacy will be protected.

    Submit
    Cancel