Telecom says a problem with Yahoo’s mail service meant some customers receiving “phishing emails” – scam messages that would usually be blocked in most instances.
Phishing messages seek to fool a person into providing details such as their logon or password to a bank, usually by sending an email that apes a genuine message (typically, banks and others do not ask for personal details by email).
Some Telecom customers using Xtra mail ((which hosts Telecom’s Xtra mail in Sydney) have also noticed bounced emails, or spam messages sent to their contacts.
Yahoo fixed the problem this morning, Telecom says.
However, emails received before this morning should be treated with suspicion.
“If you have received any of these emails, we recommend that you delete these without opening them and under no circumstances should you reply to these emails with any log on, password or personal information,” Telecom says.
Telecom remains all affected customers reset their Xtra email password, which can be done via nz.yahoo.com.