In India, first time spam emails in Hindi script and Devanagri script are being circulated. In the month of May 2011, Symantec the E-security firm has identified spam e-mails using the ‘419’ or ‘Nigerian’ technique in Hindi. Earlier the same messages were in English. This change in language states that the spammers are specifically targeting only Hindi speaking population. Hindi language is known by people not only in India, but also in other countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc.
According to the Symantec, India has always been targeted by the virus and phishing attacks. Symantec identified Hindi spam e-mails like 419 and Nigerian, which are targeting Hindi speaking people in India and all across the world. These e-mails have false massages, like “your e-mail got 7.5 million pounds, to claim the amount provide your personal details”. According to the Symantec, Asia ranked high on the list of cybercriminals, who target especially India and other countries which has rapid growth in Internet population.
Most of the Internet users in India prefer their local or mother tongue, and thus get easily deceived. Symantec began to observe more Hindi spam, and said that the Internet users should be aware of this kind of spam mails and should not provide any information to them. Cybercriminals often include links that lead to websites which automatically download malware into the visitor’s systems.