The fake email, which contains a virus-laden attachment and a threatening note, was received by an indeterminate number of victims. The note informs the recipient that their email address has been found on a database of child pornography paysite customers and tells them to donate money to ASACP or face legal action.
ASACP Compliance Director Tim Henning believes that the note originated from efforts by child pornographers. However, he could not be certain of the note’s origins.
“CP operators would like nothing better than to hinder our operations,” Henning said. “The work we do helps stop them from making money from child pornography. Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do to prevent these kinds of attacks.”
The text of the note begins, “Hi! I am abuse manager of asacp.org, the organization which fights with the child pornography expansion in Internet.”
The message links readers to the ASACP donation page.
The ASACP will refund any donations made as a result of the scam, Irvine said.
“We’ve been targeted this way before,” Irvine said. “In this case, thousands or even millions of people around the world may have encountered ASACP for the first time due to this spoof email. If so, they received a false and very negative impression of us. However, we’re confident that there won’t be any lasting damage. ASACP’s long record of working to fight child sexual abuse speaks for itself.”
Irvine asked that anyone who received this email to forward it, with full headers, to comments@asacp.org, with "Spoof Email" as the subject. This may assist ASACP in its investigation. Victims should also update their computer’s virus definitions and scan for virus infections, she said.