Scammers hijack websites of popular brands to insert fake phone number


Cybercriminals frequently use fake search engine listings to take advantage of our trust in popular brands, and then scam us. It often starts, as with so many attacks, with a sponsored search result on Google.

In the latest example of this type of scam, we found tech support scammers hijacking the results of people looking for 24/7 support for Apple, Bank of America, Facebook, HP, Microsoft, Netflix, and PayPal. Here’s how it works: Cybercriminals pay for a sponsored ad on Google pretending to be a major brand. Often, this ad leads people to a fake website. However, in the cases we recently found, the visitor is taken to the legitimate site with a small difference.

Read more…
Source: Malwarebytes Labz


Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.


Related:

  • Millions of Android Users Scammed in SMS Fraud Driven by Tik-Tok Ads

    October 26, 2021

    Threat actors are using malicious Android apps to scam users into signing up for a bogus premium SMS subscription service, which results in big charges accruing on their phone bills. Jakub Vavra from the threat operations team of security firm Avast uncovered the campaign, which he dubbed UltimaSMS because one of the first apps he discovered ...

  • Almost 100 Organizations in Brazil Targeted with Banking Trojan

    October 26, 2021

    Up to 100 organizations in Brazil have been targeted with a banking Trojan since approximately late August 2021, with the most recent activity seen in early October. This campaign appears to be a continuation of activity that was published about by researchers at ESET in 2020. The attackers appeared to be undeterred by exposure and Symantec, ...

  • Ransomware has proliferated because it’s ‘largely uncontested’, says GCHQ boss

    October 26, 2021

    If you’ve wondered why ransomware has proliferated in recent years, it’s because until recently it has remained unchallenged, according to Sir Jeremy Fleming, director of British signals intelligence agency GCHQ. “We’ve seen twice as many attacks this year as last year in the UK – but the reason it is proliferating is because it works,” ...

  • Ransomware: Industrial services top the hit list – but cyber criminals are diversifying

    October 25, 2021

    Businesses in industrial goods and services are still the most popular target for ransomware attacks, but cyber criminals are increasingly diversifying which organisations they’re extorting. Ransomware has become a major cybersecurity issue, as cyber criminals infiltrate networks and encrypt servers and files before demanding a ransom payment – often amounting to millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies ...

  • Hacker sells the data for millions of Moscow drivers for $800

    October 23, 2021

    Hackers are selling a stolen database containing 50 million records of Moscow driver data on an underground forum for only $800. According to Russian media outlets that purchased the database, the data appears to be valid and contains records collected between 2006 and 2019 Russian news publisher Kommersant called a small sample of the exposed individuals and ...

  • FIN7 Lures Unwitting Security Pros to Carry Out Ransomware Attacks

    October 22, 2021

    The financially motivated cybercrime gang behind the Carbanak backdoor malware, FIN7, has hit upon a genius idea for maximizing profit from ransomware: Hire real pen-testers to do some of their dirty work instead of striking partnerships with other criminals. According to a report from Gemini Advisory, the group has set up a fake security company (called ...