SecureWorld News

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Evolution of social engineering Social engineering exploits human psychology to manipulate individuals into revealing sensitive information or taking harmful actions. Deepfakes are revolutionizing social engineering attacks, making them more deceptive and harder to detect.

Social Engineering 85

Social Engineering Authentication Identity Theft Engineering 85

The Last Watchdog

APRIL 6, 2020

CEO Colin Bastable at RSA 2020. This can make them particularly susceptible to social engineering trickery, the trigger for online extortion and fraud campaigns, Bastable told me. These scams rely on the failure of a subordinate employee to recognize a cleverly spoofed email directive. The total stolen: $2.3

Scams 147

Scams Social Engineering Ransomware Engineering 147

SecureList

MARCH 1, 2021

In 2020, Kaspersky mobile products and technologies detected: 5,683,694 malicious installation packages, 156,710 new mobile banking Trojans, 20,708 new mobile ransomware Trojans. It just so happened that the year 2020 gave hackers a large number of powerful news topics, with the COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest of these.

Mobile 145

Mobile Malware Adware Banking 145

SC Magazine

APRIL 8, 2021

No wonder scam artists are taking notice and jumping on the bandwagon. Shashi Prakash, chief technology officer and chief scientist at Bolster, told SC Media that NFTs are especially ripe for scamming right now because of the very fact that some people are chasing this fad without really understanding how the process works.

Scams 137

Scams Cryptocurrency Phishing Marketing 137

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Labor Department’s inspector general said this week that roughly $100 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims were paid in 2020 to criminals who are already in jail. A new report (PDF) from the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that from March through October of 2020, some $3.5

Scams 341

Scams Insurance DDOS Authentication 341

Hot for Security

MARCH 24, 2021

Fraud losses climbed to $56 billion in 2020 and identity fraud scams accounted for a staggering $43 billion of that cost, according to a new report. Criminals instead opted to interact directly with their fraud victims via identity fraud scams, seeing that direct interaction yields better chances of success.

Scams 122

Scams Accountability Authentication Internet 122

Malwarebytes

MARCH 17, 2021

The so-called “mastermind” behind the 2020 Twitter hack that compromised the accounts of several celebrities and public figures—including President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk—pleaded guilty to several charges on Tuesday in a Florida court. After the theft, Clark posted photos of himself on Instagram wearing a Rolex watch.

Hacking 100

Hacking Social Engineering Scams Accountability 100

Adam Levin

MARCH 16, 2020

billion in BEC scam-related losses the year before. “BEC/EAC is a sophisticated scam targeting both businesses and individuals performing a transfer of funds,” explained the report. ” The report warned that the methods used by hackers to perpetrate BEC scams were becoming more complicated and difficult to detect.

Scams 130

Scams Identity Theft Accountability Phishing 130

Hot for Security

JUNE 7, 2021

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned the British public to be vigilant against scams and fraud attempts, as the remaining annual renewal packs are due to arrive via post this week. In total, HMRC’s Cyber Security Operations has responded to nearly 450,000 phone scam reports, up 135% from last year. Search GOV.UK

Scams 97

Scams Social Engineering Banking Phishing 97

SecureList

AUGUST 23, 2021

billion USD in 2021, which is slightly less than the total revenue in 2020 but still significantly above the pre-pandemic figures. This rapid growth owes a lot to the surge in mobile gaming and focus on social interaction during the pandemic. Pandemic-related statistics cover the period of January 2020 through June 2021.

Mobile 139

Mobile Adware Malware Phishing 139

The Last Watchdog

APRIL 14, 2022

For starters, attackers leverage social engineering tactics and information gleaned from websites and social media profiles to determine employees’ working relationships and connections. We would never expect someone we know and work with to scam us, much less defraud our organization.

Phishing 247

Phishing Accountability Scams Social Engineering 247

Krebs on Security

JULY 22, 2020

These individuals said they were only customers of the person who had access to Twitter’s internal employee tools, and were not responsible for the actual intrusion or bitcoin scams that took place that day. “Without the buyers and the resellers, there is no incentive to hack into all these social media and gaming companies.”

Hacking 334

Hacking Accountability Scams Media 334

Malwarebytes

DECEMBER 28, 2023

In 2023, the public primarily confronted two varieties of online scams: the technical and the topical. Technical scams abuse legitimate aspects of modern internet infrastructure to lead users to illegitimate or compromised sites. Topical scams, on the other hand, are simpler.

Scams 105

Scams Accountability Social Engineering Small Business 105

SecureList

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

Case in point: we’re already seeing scams targeting World Cup fans more than a year out from the event. Furthermore, we analyzed financial malware associated with major e-commerce platforms detected during the period from January 2020 to November 2021. million in 2020 to 10 million in 2021. and entertainment (eg.

Scams 133

Scams Banking Phishing Retail 133

Malwarebytes

JUNE 19, 2023

A particularly nasty slice of phishing, scamming, and social engineering is responsible for DoorDash drivers losing a group total of around $950k. A 21 year old man named David Smith, from Connecticut, allegedly figured out a way to extract large quantities of cash from drivers with a scam stretching back to 2020.

Scams 97

Scams Phishing Password Management Passwords 97

Security Through Education

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

An Fbi.gov article states that, “while these scams can happen at any time, they are especially prevalent after high-profile disasters. Charity Fraud Scam Vectors and Social Engineering Techniques. Some of these include phishing, vishing , social media, and crowdfunding platforms. In short, the campaign was a scam.

Scams 98

Scams Social Engineering Media Phishing 98

Krebs on Security

JANUARY 30, 2024

2022 that an intrusion had exposed a “limited number” of Twilio customer accounts through a sophisticated social engineering attack designed to steal employee credentials. The vulnerability exploited by the intruders was patched back in 2020, but the employee never updated his Plex software. Twilio disclosed in Aug.

Social Engineering 359

Social Engineering Mobile Passwords Cybercrime 359

Krebs on Security

APRIL 30, 2020

These restrictions have created a burgeoning underground market for reshipping scams, which rely on willing or unwitting residents in the United States and Europe — derisively referred to as “ reshipping mules ” — to receive and relay high-dollar stolen goods to crooks living in the embargoed areas.

Cybercrime 351

Cybercrime Computers and Electronics Marketing Scams 351

Hot for Security

MARCH 19, 2021

According to the report , in 2020 the IC3 received 19,369 business email compromise (BEC) / email account compromise (EAC) complaints “with adjusted losses of over $1.8 BEC/EAC is a sophisticated scam targeting both businesses and individuals performing transfers of funds,” the bureau’s cyber squad explains. million in 2020.

Ransomware 87

Ransomware Identity Theft Scams Social Engineering 87

SecureWorld News

MARCH 22, 2021

Here is the report's opening paragraph: "In 2020, while the American public was focused on protecting our families from a global pandemic and helping others in need, cyber criminals took advantage of an opportunity to profit from our dependence on technology to go on an Internet crime spree. Business Email Compromise 2020.

Cybercrime 67

Cybercrime Scams Banking Accountability 67

Security Through Education

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Expert Chris Hadnagy advises us, “Unless you’re in the security business or law enforcement, you won’t be familiar with every new scam that pops up. Social-Engineer, LLC saw an almost 350% increase in recognition of phishing emails when using a similar training platform in 2020.

Cybersecurity 137

Cybersecurity Social Engineering Firewall Engineering 137

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 30, 2022

On July 20, the attackers turned their sights on internet infrastructure giant Cloudflare.com , and the intercepted credentials show at least five employees fell for the scam (although only two employees also provided the crucial one-time MFA code). Image: Cloudflare.com. On that last date, Twilio disclosed that on Aug. ”

Mobile 344

Mobile Phishing Authentication Accountability 344

Malwarebytes

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

Threat actors involved in tech support scams have been running a browser locker campaign from November 2020 until February 2021 on the world’s largest adult platforms including PornHub. On May 21 2020, the threat actor registered the domain name sassysenssations[.]com com which belongs to a legitimate business.

Scams 99

Scams Advertising Spyware Mobile 99

Malwarebytes

APRIL 6, 2021

Some reports say the data was scraped in 2019, others talk about early 2020. Access to personal data allows cybercriminals to seem more believable when they pretend to be somebody, making social engineering and ID theft easier, and unlike passwords, many of them can’t be changed. Limiting what you share.

Scams 125

Scams Social Engineering Data breaches Media 125

Malwarebytes

AUGUST 17, 2023

Back in January 2020, we blogged about a tech support scam campaign dubbed WoofLocker that was by far using the most complex traffic redirection scheme we had ever seen. Victims that fall for the scam and call the phone number are then redirected to call centres presumably in South Asian countries.

Scams 93

Scams Social Engineering Engineering 93

Malwarebytes

MAY 3, 2022

A real world scam which sucks the fun out of craft fairs has caused nothing but stress for victims. This isn’t an isolated case; this specific scam targeted people all across the UK. How does this fake vendor fair scam work? The really interesting thing about all this is that fake fair scams aren’t some weird anomaly.

Scams 129

Scams Media Social Engineering Small Business 129

eSecurity Planet

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

billion in reported losses, up from 2020’s 791,790 complaints and $4.2 There are dozens if not hundreds of types of scams out there, but we’re going to focus on the scams most likely to affect a business, such as phishing or business email compromise (BEC). In 2021 alone, IC3 received 847,376 complaints which amounted to $6.9

Social Engineering 121

Social Engineering Energy and Utilities Phishing Internet 121

The Last Watchdog

JUNE 21, 2020

The epidemic went truly mainstream with the release of CryptoLocker back in 2013, and it has since transformed into a major dark web economy spawning the likes of Sodinokibi, Ryuk, and Maze lineages that are targeting the enterprise on a huge scale in 2020. In early 2020, several cybercriminals groups followed suit.

Ransomware 243

Ransomware Hacking Encryption Penetration Testing 243

Security Affairs

MARCH 8, 2020

pic.twitter.com/StU68THrXy — MalwareHunterTeam (@malwrhunterteam) March 6, 2020. See Using Caution with Email Attachments and Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Scams for more information. Review the Federal Trade Commission’s page on Charity Scams for more information.

Malware 145

Malware Scams Social Engineering Phishing 145

SecureWorld News

OCTOBER 1, 2021

This social engineering trick is exceptionally successful, considering users might feel more comfortable sharing information to a website in their local language,” reads the report. This pie graph shows the top categories: GriftHorse Trojan social engineering technique. More than 200 apps were infected.

Social Engineering 97

Social Engineering Engineering Malware Scams 97

SecureWorld News

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

BEC or Email Account Compromise (EAC) was known as the $26 billion scam in 2019. billion in adjusted losses in 2020 and noted an increase in complaints, most likely tied to the work-from-home environment as a result of the pandemic. Understanding BEC scams. BEC is a sophisticated scam with multiple victims.

Scams 97

Scams Social Engineering Accountability Ransomware 97

Hot for Security

APRIL 5, 2021

In 2020, customers who had already endured the fallout from the breach were targeted once again, in new blackmail campaigns. Once personal data is out there, it can be used to impersonate or scam users over and over. Malicious actors can exploit this information to deploy targeted social engineering attacks.

Data breaches 133

Data breaches Identity Theft Social Engineering Media 133

Webroot

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

As we mentioned in a previous blog , hackers come in many forms, but their methods can generally be classified into three distinct types of cybercriminals: The Impersonator – Hackers that pretend to be others, often using social engineering and human psychology to trick users. Let’s look at a few primary examples.

Scams 119

Scams Phishing Firewall Social Engineering 119

Security Affairs

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Phishing techniques use social engineering to trick victims into taking an action that helps an attacker compromise your network or access your sensitive information assets. Some threat actors carry out phishing attacks using social media and networking platforms, such as Twitter or LinkedIn. Stolen Credentials.

IoT 138

IoT Phishing Passwords Scams 138

Security Affairs

OCTOBER 30, 2021

The top five threats are: Online Scams – For African member countries, the highest-reported and most pressing cyberthreat across the region was identified as online scamming. This threat seeks to target and take advantage of victims’ fears, insecurities, and vulnerabilities through phishing, mass mailing and social engineering.

Cybercrime 88

Cybercrime Scams DDOS Banking 88

CyberSecurity Insiders

APRIL 16, 2021

The emails pose as company updates and are often socially engineered to look like they have been personally tailored to the recipient. Preventing phishing attacks, like the latest phony HR scams, should not fall on individual employees alone. They are fairly convincing emails at first, second and even third glances.

Phishing 113

Phishing Security Awareness Social Engineering Scams 113

SC Magazine

JUNE 24, 2021

A new blog post report has shone a light on the malicious practice known as voice phishing or vishing – a social engineering tactic that some cyber experts say has only grown in prominence since COVID-19 forced employees to work from home. According to Iyer, it’s relatively easy and cheap for cybercriminals set up this kind of scam. “

Phishing 81

Phishing Social Engineering Scams Engineering 81