Cybercriminals have sunk to a new low with this latest scam
Date:
Tue, 24 May 2022 11:18:47 +0000
Description:
Abuse victims being used in this sinister new scam.
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Cybercrooks attacking overbooked hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic was low, but a new scheme proves that for some fraudsters, theres no bottom to which they cannot sink.
A disturbing new campaign has been spotted, in which photos of abuse victims were being used to trick people into paying recurring fees for a non-existent service.
Reports claim that there are dozens of fake ID verification services out
there that promise to cross-reference registered accounts with known sex offender databases. However, all these services do is take peoples credit
card info, possibly stealing their identities in the process, and setting
them up for a recurring payment service. Criminal scams
To get people to register, the fraudsters create fake accounts on hookup platforms such as Tinder. As multiple people confirmed to the publication,
the fraudster would create an account of an attractive woman, and after chatting a little bit with the target, would say they were victims of abuse
in the past. They would even share actual photos of the woman, abused, to
back up their claims.
Then, they would demand their new love interest to register on one of these sites, to confirm they were not an abusive individual. Most of the sites (of which there are many, as the publication discovered), were registered to an entity in Cyprus, which was unavailable for comment.
The sites feature user testimonials which turned out to be fake, as the
images of the people were found on stock photo sites. Whats more, instead of the actual payment form, the sites hold an HTML iFrame served from domains that read as if someone just hit the keyboard - ndwhvl.com, ntrfrnc.com, pcngyh.com - to name a few. Read more
Americans lost over $500 million to online romance scams last year
Online crime cost Americans billions last year
Social media scams hit a new high in 2021
Those that fall for the trick and decide to register, can choose among multiple membership options, ranging from $1.99, all the way up to $100, depending on the website and the membership package.
Next only to Elon Musk-related schemes, romance frauds are one of the most popular types of scams on the internet, right now. Users are advised to be extra vigilant with everything they do online, and activate two-factor authentication wherever available. These are the best firewalls around
Via: BleepingComputer
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/cybercriminals-have-sunk-to-a-new-low-with-this -latest-scam/
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