14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers warned of the possibility that cybercriminals may take advantage of the popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge and set up pages impersonating donation websites.
It is a known fact that crooks leverage any major event for their nefarious purposes. The Ice Bucket Challenge raising money for research leading to finding a cure for ALS (Amyothrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease) seems like too good an opportunity to pass.
Although the most obvious danger is to divert the donation to the accounts of the cybercriminals, there is also the possibility of phishing; the fake pages collect all the details entered in the forms and send them to a malicious location.
As far as the information that can be gathered is concerned, it is sufficient for stealing the identity of the victim, as well as for emptying the bank account.
“There might be some hackers taking advantage of your kindness and donations. Hackers can easily set up a spoofed website that looks like any of those donation websites and spread the word on social networks to attract victims,” researchers at Barracuda Labs say.
However, they have not encountered malicious campaigns taking advantage of the ALS awareness and fund raising campaign.
When donations are made, it is recommended to use websites that offer secure communication between the client and the server through an encrypted connection (HTTPS).
One way to spot a deceitful online location is to verify the URL address; if it does not match the service the user tries to access, then there is the possibility that crooks created a fake website.
Social engineering is what criminals generally rely on to dupe their victimis into landing on the malicious pages; a link in a Facebook post or an email could ensnare victims and steal their money and personal information.
Researchers at Thirtyseven4 antivirus company also put out a warning about this type of scam being very likely to occur in the near future.
Steven Sundermeier, owner of the company, said that exploiting the Ice Bucket Challenge is a sure matter, as crooks never lose an opportunity to make easy money, all the more this one, which sees “high-profile celebrities getting involved and the challenge going global.”
“Cybercriminals have a long history of capitalizing on the hottest trends and latest headlines to disguise their evil doings,” he added.
“I feel it’s only a matter of time before fake ALS donation websites start polluting the Internet and social networking sites and other scams start surfacing,” Sundermeier concluded.