Bitdefender experts take a look at some of the cybercriminal schemes

Sep 18, 2013 14:04 GMT  ·  By

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 has just been released for PlayStation and Xbox consoles and cybercriminals are already leveraging the name of the popular video game in their schemes.

Experts from IT security firm Bitdefender warn that users looking to download GTA 5 serial generators and beta versions of the game might end up on malicious websites.

Fake GTA 5 websites have been spotted all over the world, some of them being hosted on Russian domains.

The bait sites are in English, but depending on their location, victims are taken to scams written in their own language.

Experts from Bitdefender Labs in France have found a website that uses the reputation of antivirus companies to make everything more legitimate looking. Even a bogus scan is initiated to convince internauts that the website is not malicious.

Once the so-called scan is completed, victims are presented with a variety of survey scams that promise all sorts of prizes in return for a few clicks and some personal information. The fraudsters also try to trick users into signing up for paid services.

In the end, the so-called GTA 5 serial generator is downloaded.

In one case analyzed by Bitdefender, the generator was harmless. It didn’t provide any serial numbers, but it didn’t cause any harm either.

Another file downloaded from a fake GTA 5 download website has been found to be a malicious keylogger (Trojan.Keylogger.MWP). The threat is designed to steal personal information, including Facebook login credentials.

Bitdefender researchers warn that cybercriminals also distribute malware by placing it inside fake GTA 5 torrents.

It’s uncertain whether we’ll see a PC version of GTA 5. In the meantime, users are advised to avoid downloading alleged copies of the game.

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