Kaspersky researchers have uncovered a new wave of spam attacks that spread via direct messages on Twitter and steal the cryptocurrency of affected users.
Twitter is known as one of the most popular social networks in the world, with approximately 400 million monthly active users. Many people who don't know each other interact and exchange ideas here, so a direct message from a stranger may not come as much of a surprise to avid Twitter users at first.
In this message, a stranger asks us for urgent help: He is having trouble accessing his account on a cryptocurrency exchange, so he asks you to help him withdraw a certain amount of cryptocurrency from his wallet. In the message, it states the domain name, username, password and the amount of crypto money in the wallet and often reaches hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kaspersky experts believe that potentially a stranger could offer victims a small amount of money in exchange for help with withdrawals. However, this is nothing more than a trap set up to target as many users as possible.
The stranger is typing a domain name with a space especially before the period to bypass the mail protection tools
Visiting the domain name shared by the foreigner, the victim finds himself on a site claiming to be an investment platform. After the user enters the username and password received from the stranger, he actually goes to the foreigner's account where the specified amount is. It is quite remarkable that the mere appearance of the site can cause distrust on the part of a potential victim; We have a poorly designed page with poor design, where the contact list's creators are not names and photos, but only emails.
As stated in the message, six-digit amounts of money appear in the foreigner's account.
In order to withdraw money from the account, the victim is asked to provide their own wallet address, blockchain and - surprisingly - an additional password, but the victim does not have an additional password. Thus, the platform offers the victim a way to transfer funds directly within the system, in which case no additional passwords are required; just create an account with VIP status which costs a small amount.
As soon as the victim signs up in the system and enters their crypto wallet data to pay for VIP status, the money in their account is stolen. In summary, the user is somehow encouraged to create a VIP account and pay for it, but the victim receives nothing in return and loses all his tokens.
The platform publishes an instruction on how to create a VIP account
Kaspersky Security Specialist Andrey Kovtun said, “First, we discovered a mechanism in which attackers propose to help strangers withdraw funds from a crypto wallet in order to steal funds from the victim's account. Unfortunately, this crypto scam is far from being the only example. Cryptocurrency remains an extremely hot target for attackers as more and more users open their cryptocurrency wallets and convert their currencies to coins. Blockchain is also a system that allows attackers to steal money without leaving any trace, which doesn't make things any better. We expect more and more sophisticated examples of crypto scams to emerge soon, so all crypto users should be aware of how to keep their accounts, wallets and coins safe.” said.
Kaspersky has recommendations for users to avoid falling victim to these spam attacks:
Be careful if the message itself is in a state of panic. Spammers often try to exert pressure by creating a sense of urgency. For example, the subject line is “urgent” or “urgent action needed” to force you to take action. sözcümay contain clear.
Be mindful of how you react to spam messages. In any case, it's best not to click or open spam messages. When in doubt, be careful by deleting messages you are unsure of. Replying to a spam message was an unsafe practice. Doing so warns scammers that your address is a live email address and invites more spam. Do not click links or open attachments in spam emails to avoid downloading malware or becoming a victim of a phishing attack.
Even if you receive a message or letter from one of your best friends, keep in mind that their accounts may have been hacked as well. In any case, be careful. Even if a message seems friendly, approach links and attachments with caution.
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