Archives for April 2019

April 22, 2019

Investment Scams Result in over $10m Loss to Australians

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC’s body Scamwatch issues the latest data, and it is about schemes. The data display declines as a result of investment fraud of more than $10 million. This fraud took place in the first three months of this year.

The characters suffering the biggest losses are mostly from 55 to 64 years of age. As per reports, most productive people to report scam spans between 25 to 34 years of age. Australians reported over $10 million loss as a result of investment fraud with 1073 reports.

SECURITY & FRAUD

Instagram Users Targeted In ‘Get Rich Quick’ Scams

Authorities in the United Kingdom have warned that there are Instagram posts that promote false “get rich quick” investment scams and that the schemes have already tricked hundreds of people out of an average of about £9,000, according to reports.

Action Fraud, a U.K. awareness center led by police, said most of the victims were between the ages of 20 and 30, and that the total loss was around £3,168,464.

New trends in investment scams

To close our series for beginner investors, the Financial Conduct Authority examines the latest expansions in investment schemes.

The world’s ever-increasing connectivity carries with it many financial conveniences. But with this ease comes uncertainty and the unguarded internet user can become a prime mark for scammers, looking to get their hands on quick funds while never having to move from wherever they conduct their dubious work.

We’ve all noticed the spam emails pretending to be from deposed foreign royalty looking to disperse their assets in a hurry – and we’ve all wondered who in their rational mind could fall for such a blatant scam.

Stay Away from this March Madness SCAM

Researchers have seen an abundance of March Madness-related phishing scams.

These scams are a combination of fake domains and adware installers and other security threats. With the Final Four around the corner, researchers are asking college basketball enthusiast to becareful as cybercriminals take a pass at tournament viewers.

While security concerns regarding popular sporting events is nothing new, researchers say that cybercriminals are becoming ever more clever in avoiding being detetceted.

March Madness have tipped off during work hours, which enables offices to be prone to attacks due to office streaming.

Adware Scams

Tons of sport based sites offer streaming access, sometimes these sites are blocked by workplaces – causing a portion of viewers to click on alternative, sketchy sites that may contain adware or other types of malware.

These unofficial streams can lead to very severe security issues if left unnoticed.

This particular website (streamcartel[.]org) was registered one year ago during the NCAA tournament, and also uses other sporting events to further trick users into visiting the site, researchers said.

When the visitor clicks anywhere on the page of the website, or tries to open or close an ad, a new tab will open up. The goal of this adware site or of any other is to make money by delivering unwanted ads to the user.

Phishing Scams

Phishing is another popular and easy way for attackers to attract March Madness viewers into handing over their personal data.

Interest in March Madness is so broad that cyberattackers don’t even need to perform much social engineering to hook their phish. These sites appear to look like legitimate high-quality sites with the end game to commit credit card fraud by taking advantage of gamblers caught up in the excitement.

Other tips to avoid March Madness-related phishing scams include:

Ignoring emails to join tournament bracket pools from sites that users didn’t explicitly request to join.
Always go directly to the site where users are managing their tournament bracket – instead of clicking on a link from another webpage or in an email.
Never give out more information than users need to participate in the pool.