February 25, 2009

Google's Gmail was down for a couple of hours on Feb. 24, sending millions of users into a tizzy. While we reported the Gmail issue, there was this unrelated issue that cropped up around the same time.

OSome little known service that calls itself Viddyho had apparently created a webpage asking users to provide them with their Gtalk user ID's - in an attempt to phish their personal details, the LA Times reported.

Those who managed to fall into the trap setup by the service received unsolicited emails appearing to be sent by one of their friends. That email had a link to a webpage asking for the user's Google login name and password, which was required to view a Video sent by your buddy. Once the "target" enters the details, his ID is phished and people in his contacts list are mailed the same email again. The vicious circle then continued unabated till the issue was reported.

Note that even tech-savvy users fell prey to the scam. Users affected by this have been advised to change their passwords to prevent any further misuse arising out of this attack. Google has since then added the website to its malicious websites list.