KUALA LUMPUR: Spammers are taking advantage of current world problems to try to exploit computer users, said Symantec Corp, an Internet security solutions vendor.

It said donation scams via e-mail are on the rise and are being tied to recent natural disasters, such as the China earthquake and Myanmar cyclone, and the increasing petrol price hikes.

One earthquake donation scam requested donations for the China victims, where the scammer used a legitimate website and inserted a fraudulent page under the root domain.

When the user clicked on the URL in the spam e-mail message, he was directed to the fraudulent site and asked to make a donation, Symantec said in a press release.

"Spammers are aiming to capitalise on the harsh economic situation and prey on those in our society facing financial pressures," said C.M. Woon, general manager for Malaysia at Symantec.

"By adapting their tactics to fit current trends, spammers have been able to maximise the effectiveness of their attacks."

Also, Internet search leader Google has become a favourite target for spammers. Between November 2007 and last April, Symantec said, spammers have been been manipulating Google's advanced search query - the "I'm feeling lucky" button - and its AdSense URL parameters to redirect users to spam sites.

Last month, abuse of the Google brand continued with the Google documents service as the latest target. Google documents are designed to allow users to create and share work online but in one particular example, a Google documents link was inserted into a spam e-mail message directing users to a porn site.

To minimise such online threats, users should install a comprehensive Internet security solution for maximum protection against malicious code and other threats, update virus definitions regularly, and most importantly, educate themselves about safe online practices.

More information is available at www.symantec.com.