New Game of Thrones Phishing Scam Uncovered

A new, sophisticated Game of Thrones phishing scam has been uncovered which is targeting individuals who illegally download pirated copies of the HBO series. Game of Thrones is the most pirated TV show in history, with many individuals choosing to illegally download the latest episodes to get their GOT fix. This has not escaped the attention of scammers.

Game of Thrones Phishing Scam Emails Sent via ISPs

The scammers have used an innovative trick to make their scam more realistic. The emails claim to have been sent by IP-Echelon, the company that is used by HBO and other entertainment companies to enforce copyright claims. IP-Echelon has already sent many copyright infringement emails to illegal downloaders of movies and TV shows on behalf of a number of companies.

The Latest Game of Thrones phishing scam uses emails that appear to have been generated by IP-Echelon. The emails are extremely well written and contain the same language that is used by the organization when sending out legitimate notices to ISPs.

The ISPs, believing the copyright infringement notices to be genuine, then forward the emails to customers. Since the notice is sent by the ISP, the Game of Thrones phishing scam appears to be genuine.

The customer is told that they must settle the case promptly – within 72 hours – in order to avoid legal action. To settle the case, the customer must visit a link to review the settlement offer and make payment. Failure to do so will see that settlement offer withdrawn. The email says that the settlement about will increase as a result.

The scam has been run in the United States, although there have been a number of reports of individuals in Canada, Europe, and Australia also having been targeted with the same email scam.

A Convincing Phishing Scam That Has Fooled Many ISPs

It is unclear at this point whether the scammers are specifically targeting individuals who have accessed torrent sites and have downloaded torrent files, or whether the emails are being sent out randomly. Some individuals have taken to Internet forums to claim that they have not performed any illegal downloads, while others have been using torrent sites to illegally download TV shows and movies.

HBO has previously taken action over illegal downloaders and has used IP-Echelon to send out notices very similar to those being used by the scammers. Since the Game of Thrones phishing scam appears to be so realistic, many illegal downloaders may be fooled into making the payment. However, that payment will go directly to the scammers.

As is the case with all email requests such as this, the recipient should take steps to verify the authenticity of the email prior to taking any action. Contacting the company that sent the message – using the contact telephone number on the company’s official website – is the best way to confirm authenticity. Email recipients should never use any contact information that is sent in the email body.

Some ISPs have taken steps to confirm the authenticity of the emails and have discovered they are a scam, but not all. Many have been forwarded on by ISPs who believed the scam emails to be legitimate.

Blurred Image Phishing Scam Used to Steal Business Login Credentials

A new phishing scam has been discovered that is being used to steal the login credentials and phone numbers of employees. The new scam uses blurred images of invoices to lure victims into revealing sensitive information. In order to view the document or spreadsheet in higher resolution, the victim must supply their email address and password. It is not clear whether this blurred image phishing scam is being used for targeted attacks on businesses or whether the emails are being sent out randomly.

The Blurred Image Phishing Scam

A number of different versions of the same scam have been discovered by the Internet Storm Center, each of which uses a different document.

The initial email appears to have been sent from a legitimate company – a well-known company likely to be very familiar to most business users. HSBC for example. The emails contain corporate logos and are well written. They contain a link that must be clicked to view a purchase order or invoice.

Clicking the link will take the email recipient to a webpage where they are presented with what appears to be a legitimate document. The attackers use a screenshot of an excel spreadsheet (or word document) which appears blurred. The screenshot was taken on a low resolution yet is displayed in high resolution to ensure it cannot be read, although it is clear what the document is.

In order to view the file, the victim is required to enter their email and password in a popup box to confirm their identity. The popup asks for the victim’s email account credentials. The attackers use a JavaScript file to validate the email address.

The login credentials are harvested and sent to the attacker along with the victim’s location and IP address. Users are subsequently directed to a fake Google authentication portal where they are asked to supply their phone number. If the victim enters their details and clicks to view the document, a PDF file will open.

This blurred image phishing scam may not be particularly sophisticated – it uses simple JavaScript, HTML and PHP – but it is still likely to be effective. The blurred images and corporate images may be enough to fool many users into believing the emails are legitimate.

Beware of Brexit Phishing Attacks

The EU referendum that recently took place in the United Kingdom has sparked a spate of Brexit phishing attacks. Brexit – a contraction of British exit from the European Union – has caused considerable economic turmoil in the UK and a great deal of uncertainty about the future. It is not only the UK that has been affected. The decision of 52% of British voters to opt to leave the EU has had an impact on markets around the world.

Whenever a big news story breaks, criminals seek to take advantage. Cybercriminals have been quick to take advantage of the UK EU referendum result and have launched a wave of Brexit phishing attacks which trick people into downloading malware onto their computers.

The Brexit phishing attacks are being conducted using spam email messages. Attackers are sending out emails in the millions with subject lines relating to the Brexit result. The emails play on fears about the uncertainty of the financial markets, the economic turmoil that has been caused, and the political upheaval that has followed.

The emails contain malicious attachments which, if opened, install malware onto the victims’ computers. Many email messages contain links to malicious websites where drive-by malware downloads take place. Some of the emails offer victims help to keep their bank accounts and savings protected from currency fluctuations. In order to protect accounts, the victims are required to divulge highly sensitive information such as bank account details via scam websites.

The malware being sent is capable of logging keystrokes made on computers. These malicious software programs then relay sensitive information such as online banking login information to the attackers, allowing them to make fraudulent transfers.

All computer users should be extremely wary about unexpected email messages. Opening file attachments sent from unknown senders is risky and may result in malware being loaded onto computers. Ransomware can also be installed. The malicious software locks files until a ransom payment is made to the attackers.

Any email that contains a link to a news story should be deleted. The story will be covered by the usual news websites if it is genuine. Those sites should be accessed directly through the browser or via the search engines.

Organizations can protect their networks and users from Brexit phishing attacks and other malicious spam email campaigns by installing a spam filtering solution such as SpamTitan. SpamTitan captures more than 99% of spam email, preventing phishing emails from being delivered.  This reduces reliance on employees being able to identify a phishing scam or malicious email.

Spate of Facebook Phishing Attacks Reported

Facebook phishing attacks are fairly common. The website has 1.65 billion active monthly users, a considerable number of which access the social media platform on a daily basis. With such a huge number of users, it is understandable that criminals often target users of the platform.

However, the latest phishing scam to target Facebook users is notable for the speed and scale of the attacks. Kaspersky Lab reports that the latest Facebook phishing attacks have been claiming a new victim every 20 seconds.

The Facebook phishing attacks took place over a period of two days, during which time more than 10,000 Facebook users had their computers infected with malware.

The phishing scam involves site users being sent a message from their ‘friends’. The messages say the user has been mentioned in a comment on a Facebook post. However, when they respond to the message they download a Trojan onto their computers and inadvertently install a malicious Chrome browser extension. In the second phase of the attack, the Trojan and the browser extension are enabled.

When the victim next logs into Facebook the login details are captured and sent to the attacker. This gave the attackers full control of the victims’ Facebook accounts. This allows them to make changes to the privacy settings, steal data, and send their own messages to all of the victims’ contacts on Facebook. The attacks were also used to register fraudulent likes and shares.

The attackers took steps to prevent the infections from being detected. The malware was capable of blocking access to certain websites which could potentially result in the victims discovering the malware infection. The websites of a number of cybersecurity sites were blocked, for instance.

The phishing attack mostly affected Facebook users on Windows computers, although Kaspersky Lab noted that Windows mobile phones were also compromised in the attacks. Individuals who accessed Facebook via Android and Apple phones were immune.

The attacks concentrated on users in South America, with Brazil the worst hit, registering 37% of the Facebook phishing attacks. Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela were also heavily targeted. Attacks in Europe were mostly conducted on users in Poland, Greece, and Portugal, with Germany and Israel also hit hard.

The malware used in the latest Facebook phishing attacks is not new. It was first identified about a year ago. Kaspersky Lab reports that the attackers are most likely of Turkish origin, or at least Turkish-speaking.

What sets this phishing scam apart from the many others is the speed at which users were infected. However, the response to the attacks was also rapid. Users who discovered infections spread the news on Facebook, while the media response helped to raise awareness of the scam. Google has also taken action and has now blocked the malicious Chrome extension.