Howard County, Md., executive’s email list hacked in phishing scam

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Thousands of Maryland residents were victimized in a phishing scam after Howard County Executive Calvin Ball’s email distribution list was hacked and the emails were exposed, the Baltimore Sun reports.

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The scam was aimed at getting unsuspecting victims to answer a random email and input their personal credit card and account info. In this case, the scammer took the emails and sent out phony emails posing as Netflix to at least 35,000 people, asking for info regarding their accounts.

About 4,550 people opened the email which claimed to be from Netflix, and less than 700 people clicked through the link provided, according to a statement from the county Monday afternoon.

Phishing scams are a hit or miss, but for those who click-through and input their private info, it’s a win for criminals.

The county sent out an email on Sunday night warning victims that Ball’s Constant Contact account had been compromised and their emails were exposed. They told them to delete any suspicious emails from Ball with the subject line “Account Cancellation.”

According to the county, a hacker gained access to Ball’s Constant Contact account at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, and created three phishing campaigns. It was suspended by 8:40 p.m. by Constant Contact which became wary of the activity.

By Monday afternoon, Ball’s account was back up and running and the county apologized as well as advised residents to change passwords and secure personal information as a result of the hack.

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