American security agency Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported that there is increased activity of cyber criminals impersonating popular brands' names to trap naive users online.
What's more worrying is that bad actors are brazenly using advertisements on search engine platforms, so whenever a user types of brand's name, the fake website URL comes on top of the search results.
Once the user clicks on the website link, they are diverted to a benign-looking webpage with a similar design, typefaces, logos and colour scheme to the original's webpage. But, it is compromised with malware that read keystrokes and steals usernames.
Most of the time, threat actors create fake finance platforms and, more specifically, cryptocurrency exchange platforms. While it is pertinent for search platforms to improve their security measures to weed out illegal websites, it is also important for users to be very cautious when downloading or performing online transactions.
"These advertisements have also been used to impersonate websites involved in finances, particularly cryptocurrency exchange platforms. These malicious sites appear to be real exchange platforms and prompt users to enter login credentials and financial information, giving criminal actors access to steal funds. While search engine advertisements are not malicious in nature, it is important to practice caution when accessing a web page through an advertised link," the FBI public service announcement reads.
Here are some tips on tips to protect yourself from online fraud:
1) Before downloading software/application from the website, ensure the URL has 'https'. If it has just 'http', then you should just go off the website
2) Also, most often than not, cyber criminals while creating fake website portals, they mess up with the spelling of names or keywords. If they are too many mistakes, then it is not worth checking out the website, even if it is a genuine website too.
3) Also, if a brand comes across a fake webpage with its company name, it should immediately report it to the search platform company and ensure, it is blocked
4) And, the brands particularly reputed financial institutions, food, and fashion apparel companies set aside funds for an advertisement to create awareness among their consumers on how to find their genuine websites along with the list of dos and don'ts
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