The Scottish Football Association has just confirmed that their email database had been breached by hackers, who managed to access subscribers' emails and sent spam containing malware.
The emails were titled “Dear Customer,” and within the email was an invoice that was due within 48 hours. When users clicked on the link in the invoice, they were asked to download a file that was infected with a reputable form of malware, which put their computers at risk.
The Scottish Football Association explained on Twitter that users should delete the emails as soon as possible after they arrive in their inbox, adding in a statement on its official website that no information was compromised and that no user details were stolen.
"We urge all recipients to delete the email immediately and recommend that anyone who has opened the file carries out a security check to ensure that no malware has been installed. We would like to reassure all fans that no banking or credit card details have been compromised," the Scottish FA said.
"We have proceeded to delete this account and the matter has been raised with our suppliers. We will make further statements soon," the company added.
Although the Scottish FA is still investigating the breach, the Football Association's support clubs claim they have information indicating the attack originated from Chinese servers.
In a tweet published a few hours after the breach, the clubs supporting the Federation point out that some hacked accounts are leading to a spam campaign targeting all subscribers.
"It appears that supporters' fan clubs like @ScottishFA have been hacked - with source code from China. We have contacted them to request information!" the tweet says.
Users who received the emails from the Scottish Football Association and clicked on the included attachment are advised to install antivirus software and scan their computers for malware.
