A Dunkin' Donuts Hack, a Fake FedEx Site, and More Security News This Week

Scam centers, exposed massage company data, and more of the week's top security news...

Indian police & Microsoft busts tech support scam centers

By Uzair Amir You may have watched YouTube videos about tech support scam tricking unsuspecting users into believing that their devices have been compromised with some nasty malware and the only way to get rid of it is to pay the technician for their "services" over the phone or Skype call. This...

FBI Shuts Down Multimillion Dollar – 3ve – Ad Fraud Operation

Google, the FBI, ad-fraud fighting company WhiteOps and a collection of cyber security companies worked together to shut down one of the largest and most sophisticated digital ad-fraud schemes that infected over 1.7 million computers to generate fake clicks used to defraud online advertisers for...

Fraudsters changing contact details of banks on Google Maps to scam users

By Waqas Don’t trust Google Maps for banks’ contact details - At least not for now. Scammers are now increasingly interested in defrauding users through Google Maps that lets users change or correct the listings displayed on the service. Seeing this as an effectively exploitable opportunity,...

FCC Addresses Robocalling – But Questions Remain

Robocalls and text spam – often in the service of widespread fraud campaigns – continue to persist, dogging consumers despite the existence of the national Do Not Call registry and efforts like the Truth in Caller ID Act. In an effort to alleviate the situation, Federal Communications Commission...

A week in security (November 12 – 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we found out that TrickBot became a top business threat, so we took a deeper look at what's new with it. With Christmas just around the corner, the Secret Sister scam returned. We also touched on the security and privacy or lack thereof in smart jewelry, air traffi...

Business email compromise scam costs Pathé $21.5 million

Recently released court documents show that European-based cinema chain Pathé lost a small fortune to a business email compromise BEC scam in March 2018. How much? An astonishing US$21.5 million roughly 19 million euros. The attack, which ran for about a month, cost the company 10 percent of its...

Bitcoin Giveaway Scam Balloons, with Google the Latest Victim

Google’s official G Suite Twitter account, which has more than 800,000 followers, on Tuesday became the latest victim of an increasingly widespread Bitcoin scam, according to researchers. The growing size and scope of the scam — as well as the cybercriminals’ success in hijacking high-profile,...

Secret Sister scam returns in time for Christmas

The festive season may be imminent, but it’s a Facebook Secret Sister not Santa you have to steer clear of. Secret Sister has been a mainstay of Yuletide scams since at least 2015, and has come back around once more. But what is it? Your office probably has a Secret Santa scheme in place. You dra...

Google logins: JavaScript now required

Google users: In news that may sound alarming, it is now a requirement for you to enable JavaScript. Why? When your username and password are entered on Google’s sign-in page, Google runs a risk assessment and only allows the sign-in if nothing looks suspicious. Recently, Google went about...

ThreatList: Despite Fraud Awareness, Password Reuse Persists for Half of U.S. Consumers

As National Fraud Day approaches Nov. 11, it remains clear that more consumer education is required when it comes to thwarting scammers and identity thieves. Despite almost half of U.S. consumers 49 percent believing their security habits make them vulnerable to information fraud or identity thef...

A week in security (October 22 – 28)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we took a look at some new Mac malware, gave you a roundup of 2018 exploit kits, and dispensed some advice on sextortion scams. We also looked at the Cathay Pacific breach, groaned at the revival of an old browser trick, and explained how voting machines and...

'Fortnite' Scams Are Even Worse Than You Thought

YouTube videos with millions of views. Nearly 5,000 bogus websites. V-Bucks scammers have gotten out of control...

Sextortion emails: They’re probably not watching you

Back in July, Krebs on Security reported on a rather novel scam, where the threat actor would use credentials from old data dumps to suggest that they had directly hacked the victim and obtained the victim's presumably sensitive browser history. Stolen credentials aside, sex-based extortion scams...

Fortnite gamers targeted by data theft malware

The new season of the incredibly popular video game Fortnite is upon us, and so too are the scams. It’s no surprise that con artists would jump on this bandwagon, eager to peddle their fakeouts. Only this time, scammers had something a little more dangerous in mind than your typical low-level...

Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

Most of us have been trained to be wary of clicking on links and attachments that arrive in emails unexpected, but it's easy to forget scam artists are constantly dreaming up innovations that put a new shine on old-fashioned telephone-based phishing scams. Think you're too smart to fall for one?...

100 channels and nothing on, except TV Licensing phishes

We’ve seen a lot of people referencing fake TV Licensing emails they’ve received over the last few days. The majority so far appear to be fake refund notices, asking potential victims to log in to a phony TV License website and provide payment details for refunds. It's definitely keeping customer...

A week in security (September 10 – 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we assessed the security of a portable router, identified ways to waste a scammer's time, named the many faces of omnichannel fraud, questioned the security of 2FAs, profiled a massive tech support scam operation, and exposed a new HMRC phishing campaign. Other...

Partnerstroka: Large tech support scam operation features latest browser locker

Tech support scams continue to be one of the top consumer threats in 2018, despite actions from security vendors and law enforcement. Scammers are constantly looking for new ways to reel in more victims, going beyond cold calls impersonating Microsoft to rogue tech support ads using the good name...

A week in security (September 3 – 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at spyware going mainstream, how the popular game Fortnite sparks security concerns for Android users, and how certain Mac App Store apps are stealing user data. Other cybersecurity news: Microsoft announced Windows 7 Extended Security Updates in a blog...