NICE cancer email hoax warning

NHS

“A health watchdog is warning that thousands of people have been sent hoax emails,” BBC News reports. The emails, purporting to come from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), wrongly warn people they may have cancer.

The NHS would never send any sort of confidential information via email and NICE are not involved in cancer diagnosis.  

NICE is advising people who have received the email – the subject line of which is “important blood analysis result” – to delete it without opening and not to click on any links. Doing so could compromise the security of your computer.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive said: “A spam email purporting to come from NICE is being sent to members of the public regarding cancer test results. This email is likely to cause distress to recipients since it advises that ‘test results’ indicate they may have cancer. This malicious email is not from NICE, and we are currently investigating its origin. We take this matter very seriously and have reported it to the police.”

Updates will be made on the NICE website during the day and also via Twitter: @NICEComms

Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum.

15 thoughts on “NICE cancer email hoax warning”

    1. This one is happening in the U.K., Paul, but nasty things like this have a tendency to spread. If it does show up here, however, it would (purportedly) come from some U.S. institution or other, so as to appear legitimate.

      Reply

      1. yes I get some of that stuff now on other subjects. However if I don’t know the source it is deleted. right now I’m getting these vote for me calls. they are not answered, because I do not recognize the source number. The wife has even gotten into not answering. haha

        Reply

          1. agreed I got over the voting thing a long time ago. When it’s time my votes will be heard loud and clear.

    2. I’ve gotten all kinds of scam emails. Everything from “Eviction Notice”, “Foreclosure Notice”, “Court Date” to “Funeral Announcement”s from funeral homes in TX towns where we actually know people/have family. Today, I got one from American Eagle Airlines (the only shuttle between Houston and TX A&M) saying that I am now on their no-fly list. I don’t answer the phone, either (unless I recognize the the Caller ID). For a while, I was (still do, but not as much) getting calls, from a person with a heavy East Indian accent, saying that there was a problem detected with my Windows PC. I don’t have a Windows PC. LOL

      Reply

      2. Kaspersky must be really good at keeping all that cr@p out, since I never get any of those things, Angel.

        That, or I’m less high-profile to attract their attention than I thought I’d be.

        Not complaining, at any rate. 🙂

        Reply

          1. Never used anything else, never had anything get through them.

            Perfect track record so far, digger. 🙂

          2. Do they make it for Mac? Is it very expensive? (Any suggestions on where to purchase it for a decent price?) Do you have to buy a new version every year? The last time I asked at Staples, they didn’t have it for Macs.

          3. Apparently they do, Angel. Here’s a link for it: http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-computer-security/mac-security

            As far as price, they’re not cheap. For some reason you can only buy a three key package (not sure if that’s true for the Macs, though, haven’t checked it out) which runs $60 – $70, depending on which version you buy.
            Yes, you have to buy a new one every year, but the year starts from the date you install it. Mine is due for renewal in another 43 days. As far as price, I’ve found it to be much the same everywhere I’ve checked, but sometimes you can find it on sale. I get mine at Fry’s Electronics.

          6. Still stuck at work, waiting on one more truck to pick up. And it’s Friday.

            CR@P!!!

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