Hoax email diagnosing people with cancer is sickest scam ever?

HACKERS are going to extreme lengths to get your personal information. This cruel hoax has got to be one of the worst yet.

THOUSANDS of people are being left distraught, frightened and confused after receiving emails as part of a sick scam informing them they have been diagnosed with cancer.

The horrible hoax claims to be from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) — a real organisation that acts as an advisory service to the UK’s National Health Service — with the subject line: “IMPORTANT: Blood analysis result”.

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Upon opening the email, which looks quite genuine, it states “we have revealed that white blood cells is very low and unfortunately we have a suspicion of cancer”. It then advises you print off an attached document to take to your doctor, which is almost certainly a virus or Trojan intended to steal your personal data as soon as you open it.

While many easily identified the email as suspicious and chose not to open it, some who received the email actually went for tests. They used Twitter to describe the emotionally-wrenching event.

@NICEcomms Sitting here in tears. Waiting real cancer results and this email floored me. Please find out who is responsible and stop them.

@NICEcomms just had blood test 2 hours ago and got the email. Thought this was the results, still shaking!!!

@latentexistence Yep. I've had about 15 of these this morning. All with varying subject lines. And Tax requests. pic.twitter.com/Kz0uEMhEJ8

NICE has denied any involvement in sending the emails and described the hoax as “sickening”. It has been fielding concerns on Twitter and warned people of the false messages on its website.

It has also stated that the emails received by people awaiting blood results were a coincidence but some believe this could be a targeted email and highlights the possibility of a major security breach.

@emma_stimson Pure coincidence. The spammers seem to have sent thousands of these emails.

As to who could be held responsible, it is still a mystery with the IP addresses linking to several cities all over the world, which indicates the culprit is using a proxy to hide their location.

Like parasites, computer hackers are constantly evolving ways to infect your system. This is just another in a line of disgusting attempts to manipulate you to fall into their trap.

Remember, always remain vigilant when it comes to online security and never open an email that looks suspicious.