Scam Emails Capitalize on Swine Flu Scare

Phishing scheme asks targets to register for vaccination

By Nick McMaster

Posted Dec 4, 2009 2:40 PM CST

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Scam Emails Capitalize on Swine Flu Scare — Nurse Margaret England of the Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice draws some H1N1 vaccine during a swine flu clinic in Montpelier, Vt., Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Bogus email alert: Be on the lookout for messages allegedly from the CDC about a "mandatory" swine flu vaccination program. The emails ask recipients to enter personal information in order to get vaccinated, but unlucky registrants get malware instead of medicine. The CDC has confirmed that it is not running a mandatory vaccination program, the Baltimore Sun reports.

"The CDC has NOT implemented a state vaccination program," the agency said in a statement on its website. "Users that click on the email are at risk of having malicious code installed on their system."

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