14 DAY TRIAL // Cybercriminals recently launched an operation that relies on typosquatting to fool unsuspecting victims into thinking that Wiki and Youtube related websites are offering free prizes.
Since hackers realized that many people would misspell a website’s URL, they took advantage of the most common mistakes to serve their schemes.
A $1000 (700 EUR) Best Buy gift card, a Visa gift card and an iPad 2 are the prizes offered in the latest malicious campaign that points users to survey pages.
Each time a user visits the cleverly set-up location, the crooks earn a certain amount of money from shady marketers.
Wikipeida-org, wikepedia-org, wictionary-org, wikpedia-com, wikispaces-cm, youtrube-com, youotube-com and youzube-com are all domains that want to dupe individuals into believing that the fake advertisements and contests they share are somehow related to Wikipedia or Youtube, reports ISC Diary.
In this particular case, the website that claims to offer all the fabulous prizes is also an information harvesting site that will hand over your personal data to others.
“We will share any and all personal information you submit to our Company with third parties who may have products or services you will find of interest. We will share your information without your additional consent,” reads the fine print on the bottom of the page.
Many individuals unaware of these scams may think it’s worth it if they win an iPad or the cash, but in reality, no one ever wins anything.
Internet users are advised never to click on any links that may come via email or via social networking sites, especially the ones that urge them to share or forward the message they received.
Cybersquatters will often rely on misspelled website URLs to attract people to their malevolent schemes. That’s why it’s always recommended to double-check a URL after typing it into the browser’s address bar.