Scammers are exploiting the increased demand for online shopping by setting up spoofed supermarket websites, Teiss reports. Researchers at Mimecast recently found thirty websites impersonating Tesco, eleven spoofing Asda, and ten imitating Amazon. The sites are designed to steal credentials, payment card numbers, and personal information.
Elad Schulman, VP of Brand Protection at Mimecast, said these sites are part of a continuous cycle in which scammers attempt to stay ahead of hosting providers and security companies. Phishing sites can be identified and taken down very quickly, but scammers can set up new websites even faster. New phishing sites are constantly going online, and they stay up long enough for people to fall victim.
“Impersonating brands online is a boon for hackers: there are no rules preventing anyone from registering an online domain that looks just like a legitimate brand’s domain name and creating a lookalike that resembles the original,” Schulman said. “Subtle differences can easily go unnoticed, fooling unsuspecting customers who will simply enter their credentials as usual. In addition, brands often have no idea their name and likeness has been exploited by a copycat; and even when they do, it only takes minutes for criminals to take down their own spoofed websites and create another one elsewhere.”
In addition to supermarkets, Tiess says delivery companies are being widely impersonated. The attackers are using fake login pages designed to steal email credentials by asking users to select their email provider from a list of partner services.
Users need to be aware that scammers have tailored their attacks to take advantage of pandemic-related shutdowns and remote work environments. Security technologies have gotten much better over the years, but attackers have been able to keep pace. Phishing attacks are still widespread, and technical defenses will always be one step behind attackers who target human weaknesses. New-school security awareness training can fill this gap by enabling your employees to protect themselves against these scams.
Teiss has the story: https://www.teiss.co.uk/fake-domains-impersonating-supermarket-chains/
