Cyber scammers give new warnings as they do not stop scamming unsuspecting web shoppers through a new phishing campaign posing to be online stores. Many of these fake stores Google has removed from its search results, but links remain on social media and other sites, hence why all internet users need to know how to spot these dangerous sites.
How the Scam Works
In its latest research, Human Security's Satori team has found that cyber thieves are taking advantage of a method that leads internet users from legitimate online platforms to fake online shopping. The attackers inject a malicious program that creates fake product listings in genuine websites. This tactic pushes these fake listings up to the top rank of the search results; hence, users who click on such pages are attracted by what seems to be a good deal. When you click on such links, you are redirected to a phishing site by a malicious person who actually controls the site.
On such rogue sites, they will force you to pay using the actual service providers that have a history of legitimacy, therefore giving you more confidence. After you pay, you never receive the product and lose your cash. Maybe some consumers have effectively filed a credit card chargeback, but recovery is not always possible.
A Massive Phishing Campaign
According to the latest research, the cybercrooks have managed to compromise more than 1,000 websites to spread false business proposals. The thieves had established 121 fake online shops, where the amount of dollars in money lost by hundreds of thousands of gullible people was going into millions. According to Human Security, hundreds of thousands of people have been duped by these cheats.
Be Alert with These False Sites Signs
The victim will not get caught again if he can see the following signs:
- Deals That Seem Too Good to Be True: Something that you bought a little below its selling price is a red flag. Confirm if the website is legit before you go further.
- Inconsistent Website Names: Sometimes, the domain name, popup titles, and payment processing pages can have different names. Fake sites often have inconsistent names in these details.
- Order Process Quality: Be cautious when the ordering process appears suspicious or lacks most normal security measures, such as autofill with an address.
- Check Reviews: Look for reviews of the website from outside sources. Recognize that some reviews are completely false. Some review sites are much better about guaranteeing legitimacy.
This phishing scam, they have called "Phish 'n' Ships." This campaign effectively makes use of search engine optimization tricks to push these phony listings up as top results, giving them a spurious sense of legitimacy to unsuspecting users. In spite of these having been largely removed by Google, the criminals' strategies are changing day by day.
Continued Threat Against Browser Users
These attacks are highly likely to be affected in all major web browsers, but researchers warn that "Phish 'n' Ships" has not been suppressed, because it remains active.
Even though Google succeeded in taking down some of its parts partially, criminals will most likely change their attack in order to continue scamming further.
Meanwhile, Malwarebytes has detected another threat in Bing search results. Cybercrooks have misused the terms "Keybank login" and other similar ones to reroute innocent surfers fraudulently to phishing sites aimed at stealing banking credentials. Sometimes, even the top result of the search is a malicious link.
Security Tips for Ad Campaigns
Before launching online ads, organisations should make sure that the advertising associates they hire are well-equipped to handle malvertising. Key best practices for this include ad monitoring for threats, latent "cloaked" malicious scanning and processes in place in case of attacks.
By being vigilant and checking websites, users can avoid becoming a victim of these very sophisticated scams.
