- Jan 24, 2011
- 9,378
Free tickets, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior and Lionel Messi are being used as bait in current fraud gambits.
The world is waiting with bated breath for the 2014 FIFA World Cup to kick off in Brazil this week, and right on cue, fraudsters are hoping to deal unsuspecting fans a hat trick of scammery.
Anti-virus firm Symantec has already identified several World Cup scams, including dubious emails promoting free tickets to the tournament – which of course end up containing a malicious zip file instead. The latest campaign is serving up a remote administration tool (RAT) known as DarkComet.
“The most common scam around the World Cup involves free tickets,” explained Satnam Narang, a Symantec researcher, in a blog. “After all, what fan would not want an all-expenses paid trip to Brazil? Scammers know a dream come true is hard to pass up and circulate emails promising everything imaginable.”
Also, emails containing news and highlight reels about World Cup teams and players are being used to entice users to open up malicious attachments or click on malicious links.
“Emails are currently circulating about Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, a young star player with the Brazilian national team,” Narang noted. “The email contains a malicious word document that exploits a known vulnerability in Microsoft Word. Interest in players like Neymar and others like Argentinian national star Lionel Messi are used as the bait by scammers targeting victims, whether through email or social networking services.”
Once the World Cup begins, Symantec warns to beware scams claiming to offer free live streams of the action. These may ask marks to fill out a survey or download and install software before they can unlock access to the live stream – all of which is a gateway to malicious activity.
“As we have observed in the past, once the World Cup begins, there will be scams circulating on social networks that claim to offer free live stream of various matches, especially the final games,” Narang said. “These scams may ask you to fill out a survey or download and install software before you can unlock access to the live stream. Be skeptical—these enticements are just tricks to put money into the pockets of the scammers.”
Read more: http://www.infosecurity-magazine.co...rld-cup-2014-imminent-with-danger-everywhere/
The world is waiting with bated breath for the 2014 FIFA World Cup to kick off in Brazil this week, and right on cue, fraudsters are hoping to deal unsuspecting fans a hat trick of scammery.
Anti-virus firm Symantec has already identified several World Cup scams, including dubious emails promoting free tickets to the tournament – which of course end up containing a malicious zip file instead. The latest campaign is serving up a remote administration tool (RAT) known as DarkComet.
“The most common scam around the World Cup involves free tickets,” explained Satnam Narang, a Symantec researcher, in a blog. “After all, what fan would not want an all-expenses paid trip to Brazil? Scammers know a dream come true is hard to pass up and circulate emails promising everything imaginable.”
Also, emails containing news and highlight reels about World Cup teams and players are being used to entice users to open up malicious attachments or click on malicious links.
“Emails are currently circulating about Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, a young star player with the Brazilian national team,” Narang noted. “The email contains a malicious word document that exploits a known vulnerability in Microsoft Word. Interest in players like Neymar and others like Argentinian national star Lionel Messi are used as the bait by scammers targeting victims, whether through email or social networking services.”
Once the World Cup begins, Symantec warns to beware scams claiming to offer free live streams of the action. These may ask marks to fill out a survey or download and install software before they can unlock access to the live stream – all of which is a gateway to malicious activity.
“As we have observed in the past, once the World Cup begins, there will be scams circulating on social networks that claim to offer free live stream of various matches, especially the final games,” Narang said. “These scams may ask you to fill out a survey or download and install software before you can unlock access to the live stream. Be skeptical—these enticements are just tricks to put money into the pockets of the scammers.”
Read more: http://www.infosecurity-magazine.co...rld-cup-2014-imminent-with-danger-everywhere/