Monday, April 20, 2020
More COVID-19 scams
Following on from Saturday's post about scammers seeking to exploit the lockdown, the Guardian reports that the cybersecurity firm Mimecast has identified around 700 suspicious scam websites impersonating the world’s most-popular streaming service that appeared between 6 April and Easter. Netflix has also been a target of these fake sites:
The newer Disney+, which started its international rollout in earnest last month launching in western Europe’s main markets including the UK, was mimicked by four new websites in the same one-week period.
Some of the counterfeit sites can look extremely convincing, selling subscriptions or free accounts to harvest personal and credit card data, although most are poorly designed and have language errors that mark them out as suspicious.
“We have seen a dramatic rise in suspicious domains impersonating a variety of streaming giants for nefarious purposes,” said Carl Wearn, the head of e-crime at Mimecast.
“These spoof websites often lure unsuspecting members of the public in with an offer of free subscriptions to steal valuable data. The data harvested includes names, addresses and other personal information, as well as stealing credit card details for financial gain.”
Government lockdowns to curb the spread of coronavirus have proved to be a boon for TV – UK broadcasters recorded a 29% increase in viewing over Easter compared with last year – and subscription services.
Disney+, whose content offering includes the hit $100m Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian, almost doubled global subscriber numbers to 50 million between February, when the virus took hold, and early April.
Netflix, which has more than 160 million subscribers globally, has seen its market value surge to a record $192bn during the lockdown – more than that of Disney, the world’s biggest entertainment company.
The paper adds that cybercriminals are also impersonating official bodies such as HMRC and the World Health Organization in scam text messages and emails in an attempt to exploit the coronavirus outbreak.
The newer Disney+, which started its international rollout in earnest last month launching in western Europe’s main markets including the UK, was mimicked by four new websites in the same one-week period.
Some of the counterfeit sites can look extremely convincing, selling subscriptions or free accounts to harvest personal and credit card data, although most are poorly designed and have language errors that mark them out as suspicious.
“We have seen a dramatic rise in suspicious domains impersonating a variety of streaming giants for nefarious purposes,” said Carl Wearn, the head of e-crime at Mimecast.
“These spoof websites often lure unsuspecting members of the public in with an offer of free subscriptions to steal valuable data. The data harvested includes names, addresses and other personal information, as well as stealing credit card details for financial gain.”
Government lockdowns to curb the spread of coronavirus have proved to be a boon for TV – UK broadcasters recorded a 29% increase in viewing over Easter compared with last year – and subscription services.
Disney+, whose content offering includes the hit $100m Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian, almost doubled global subscriber numbers to 50 million between February, when the virus took hold, and early April.
Netflix, which has more than 160 million subscribers globally, has seen its market value surge to a record $192bn during the lockdown – more than that of Disney, the world’s biggest entertainment company.
The paper adds that cybercriminals are also impersonating official bodies such as HMRC and the World Health Organization in scam text messages and emails in an attempt to exploit the coronavirus outbreak.
