Reports are coming in from all across the internet about a scammer who is sending malicious messages to website owners via the contact forms on their website. This phishing email scammer aggressively accuses the website owner of using copyrighted images, and encourages them to click a link that supposedly leads to a list of the images that are in violation. Do not click the link!
The writer named "Melanka” (who also goes by “Mellie” and "Mel” among others) claims she will file a complaint with the website owner’s hosting company and will sue them for the copyright infringement.
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Here are the contents of the actual phishing email:
Hello there!
This is Melanka and I am a certified photographer.
I was discouraged, frankly speaking, when I recognised my images at your web-site. If you use a copyrighted image without an owner's approval, you should know that you could be sued by the creator.
It's illegitimate to use stolen images and it's so wicked!
Take a look at this document with the links to my images you used at [WEBSITE ADDRESS REMOVED] and my earlier publications to obtain the evidence of my legal copyrights.
Download it right now and check this out for yourself:
[MALICIOUS LINK REMOVED FROM POST FOR SAFETY]
If you don't delete the images mentioned in the file above during the next couple of days, I'll file a complaint to your hosting provider letting them know that my copyrights have been severely infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property.
And if it is not enough, for damn sure I am going to take it to court! And I won't give you a prior notice again.
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