14 DAY TRIAL // A new series of phishing sites impersonating Mt.Gox, the largest Bitcoin exchange service, have been spotted by security experts.
Symantec says cybercriminals have set up bogus Mt.Gox websites on .org, .net, .de and .co.uk top-level domains (TLDs).
For instance, mtgox.org is designed to install a piece of malware on visitors’ computers by tricking them into downloading and executing a file called MTGOX_Wallet.exe, detected by Symantec as Downloader.Ponik.
The fake website almost perfectly replicates mtgox.com, except for the fact that it doesn’t use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security protocol.
Mt.Gox is aware of these malicious websites. To raise awareness, the official website displays a security alert whenever users try to log in.
“Important: If you don't see a green bar in your browser URL input like in the image below, you might be on a phishing website. Always be careful of that when you log in,” the alert reads.