- Jan 24, 2011
- 9,378
Just when we thought we had seen it all, scammers come out with an elaborate and clever scheme to trick users into calling for bogus tech support. If you are looking to download one of the popular antivirus or anti-malware product on the market, watch out before you click.
Lookalike pages
Fraudsters have set up fake download pages that look incredibly like the authentic ones. Judge for yourself:
There is even a fake page for our own Malwarebytes:
Except for the toll-free number (which is not ours), the page is pretty much the same as the real one.
Hijacked software
Each page links to a download, which of course is not the actual software but certainly looks like it:
The guys behind this went to such lengths that they actually piggy-backed on the real programs and inserted their own piece of code half way through the installation procedure:
Have a look at how well done it is with this fake Malwarebytes Anti-Malware installer:
Call to action
The purpose of these fake programs is to trick people into thinking something is wrong with their computers:
Rather clever, isn’t it? You probably know where this is going. The phone number directs you to a tech support company located in India ready to take your money once they have run their ‘diagnostic’.
Here is the video recording of the interaction with the technician:
Behind the scenes
The fake pages are hosted here:
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/antivirus-download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/norton-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/mcafee-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/avg-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/malwarebytes-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/winzip-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/lavasoft-us/download.html
Read more: https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud...g-brand-security-software-with-fake-warnings/
Lookalike pages
Fraudsters have set up fake download pages that look incredibly like the authentic ones. Judge for yourself:
There is even a fake page for our own Malwarebytes:
Except for the toll-free number (which is not ours), the page is pretty much the same as the real one.Hijacked software
Each page links to a download, which of course is not the actual software but certainly looks like it:
The guys behind this went to such lengths that they actually piggy-backed on the real programs and inserted their own piece of code half way through the installation procedure:
Have a look at how well done it is with this fake Malwarebytes Anti-Malware installer:
Call to action
The purpose of these fake programs is to trick people into thinking something is wrong with their computers:
Rather clever, isn’t it? You probably know where this is going. The phone number directs you to a tech support company located in India ready to take your money once they have run their ‘diagnostic’.
Here is the video recording of the interaction with the technician:
Behind the scenes
The fake pages are hosted here:
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/antivirus-download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/norton-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/mcafee-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/avg-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/malwarebytes-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/winzip-us/download.html
hzzzp://onlineinstanthelp.com/lavasoft-us/download.html
Read more: https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud...g-brand-security-software-with-fake-warnings/
