Not as many people use Discover credit card as those who use Visa and MasterCard. Maybe that’s why it makes our scam of the week.
From Scamicide, “a new phishing email presently being sent to unsuspecting people that appears to come from Discover. A telltale sign that this is a phishing email is that the email address of the sender was one that has nothing to do with Discover and was most likely part of a botnet of computers infected by scammers and then used to send out the phishing email in a way that is not readily traceable back to the scammer.” Those clever little scammers.
Self Employed Target
The self-employed have been particularly targeted during the pandemic and we have more proof of it this week. From InfoSecurity Magazine, “Cyber-criminals have launched a new phishing scam designed to steal personal and financial details of self-employed workers using the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) during the COVID-19 outbreak.”
The government tries to do something good for working people and the hackers just can’t resist by taking advantage of it. Sham on them.
Phishing Phrontier
One of the ways technology is trying to minimize the impact of COVID-19 is through contract tracing apps. These apps are meant to let you know who’s been in close proximity to whom, so scientists can better understand how the disease spreads. And of course, the hackers had to figure out some way to take advantage of these apps.
From Security Week, “At least a dozen bogus contact tracing apps designed to look like official software to track coronavirus infections have been deployed globally to spread malware and steal user data. The researchers from California-based firm Anomali said the apps, once installed on a device, are designed to download and install malware on devices and steal banking credentials and personal data.” Damn.
Megacart Credit Card Skimming
Most people have gotten to the point now where they trust online transactions, especially during the pandemic. That makes this story all the more scary: online credit card skimming.
From SC Magazine, “A Magecart credit card skimmer scheme used on Canadian fitness equipment retailer Fitness Depot’s e-commerce system Feb. 18 affected an undisclosed number of customers requesting either at-home delivery or in-store pickup at one of the company’s 40 stores. A bogus form placed on the Fitness Depot website managed to capture names, addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers and credit-card numbers used in the transactions, which are processed through PayPal.” Damn. Twice.
Body Count
Now that’s hitting below the belt…or maybe below the gut. According to an article on SC Magazine, “A ransomware attack on beverage company Lion could result in a temporary shortage of Australian beer after it was compelled to shut down key systems. The company is experiencing temporary shortages of some brands of keg beer.” Oh the humanity.
Nintendo Breach
Like to play computer games? From Nintendo? You may have had your data breached. From Security Week, “Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has admitted that hackers have breached 300,000 accounts since early April, gaining access to personal information such as birthdays and email addresses but not credit-card details.” Whew, no credit cards.
They did apologize. “We deeply apologize for causing trouble and worries to customers, Nintendo said in its statement, pledging to enhance advanced email security… to prevent this happening again.” Always curious as to why they wait to get hacked to enhance their security. Perhaps they think it can’t happen to them. Apparently, it can.
Bitcoin Phishing
Poor guy. He spent seven years putting all his savings into Bitcoin and now it’s gone. Did the price suddenly drop? No, he got hacked.
According to the Daily Hodl, “The Protocol Podcast host Eric Savics is the latest victim of a Bitcoin phishing scam after using a malicious version of a hardware wallet app. In a tweet posted on Friday, Savics revealed that he lost seven years’ worth of his BTC savings when he downloaded a fake desktop KeepKey Bitcoin wallet plugin from the Google Chrome store.”
And that’s the week that was.