In an environment where cryptocurrency trading is booming, hackers have set to work and are targeting those interested in such tools. Thus, the experts of the cybersecurity company Kaspersky have detected, since the beginning of the year, globally, over 1,500 fraudulent sites targeting potential investors in cryptocurrencies or those who mine such tools.
According to the company, more than 70,000 attempts by users to access such sites have been stopped during this period, and cybercriminals are working on a number of well-developed templates. The most common schemes used included, for example, the creation of websites for the exchange of counterfeit cryptocurrencies. In this case, the user received a coupon to top up a crypto exchange account, and to use it they had to make a verification payment, usually no more than 0.005 bitcoin (about $ 200), a payment that became the profit of cybercriminals. .
Another method is to send messages about fake sales of video cards and other cryptocurrency mining equipment. In this case, in order to purchase the equipment, the user had to make an advance payment, and after receiving that amount, the advertiser stopped communicating.
Beware of visited sites!
Hackers are also considering creating phishing pages with miscellaneous content to steal private information, which allowed them to access all the digital assets associated with a specially designed electronic wallet for cryptocurrencies. “Cybercriminals usually launch sites in popular domain areas: .com, .net, .org, .info, as well as in areas where domain acquisition is cheap: .site, .xyz, .online,. top, .club, .live. A distinctive feature of phishing and other types of cryptocurrency fraud is the high level of detail on phishing websites. For example, on pages dedicated to counterfeiting cryptocurrencies, real data, such as bitcoin rates, are often uploaded from official pages. Attackers understand that people who invest in or are interested in this field are often more skilled in technology than a regular user. Therefore, these cybercrooks are perfecting their techniques to obtain data and money from these people “, the specialists explain.
False vaccination appointments for bitcoin holders
“Lately, many people have become interested in cryptocurrencies, and attackers do not miss the opportunity to use this to their advantage. At the same time, both those who want to invest or undermine cryptocurrencies and those who simply hold such funds can be found on the radar of fraudsters. For example, one of the schemes I discovered was the following: users received a message about selling an exclusive coronavirus vaccine earlier than official vaccination programs and only for bitcoin holders. This type of fraud was predominantly encountered just when vaccines became available. Users went to the site indicated by the offender, where they were asked to write a request for the pre-order of the vaccine. The targets then had to make an advance payment in bitcoin, the money going to the cybercriminals’ account, without the victims receiving anything in return, “said Alexey Marchenko, Head of the Content Filtering Methods Development Department at Kaspersky.
Pay close attention to too generous offers!
To avoid becoming a victim of cyber criminals, IT experts give you some recommendations. First of all, don’t follow dubious links in email or messages from messaging apps or social networks, and ignore extremely generous online offers. Then download applications only from official platforms and use a security solution that protects you from phishing and prevents the installation of malicious applications. In addition, take extra precautions before purchasing a product from an online store if the company is unknown. It is better to look for details about the life of the domain and the owner: if the domain is recently registered by a private person, you should not buy from that site.
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