Google targeted in e-mail scam

Google has confirmed to BBC News that its e-mail system – Gmail – has been targeted as part of an “industry-wide phishing scheme”.

The search giant said that it had taken immediate action to safeguard the affected accounts.

Phishing involves using fake websites to lure people into revealing data such as bank account details or login names.

BBC News has seen two lists that detail more than 30,000 names and passwords that have been posted online.

“We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail accounts,” said a Google spokesperson.

“As soon as we learned of the attack, we forced password resets on the affected accounts. We will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when we become aware of them.”

The firm stressed that the scam was “not a breach of Gmail security” but rather “a scam to get users to give away their personal information to hackers”.

Read more: news.bbc.co.uk