Every week, we at InSpain.news update you as to the various scams that are doing the rounds. Today, we bring you 4 scams to look out for. These are all fraudulent email campaigns with the sole objective to targeting those most vulnerable.
The first fraudulent email campaign is where the sender tries to trick you into investing in bitcoins. They invite you to join them as part of a “get rich quick” scheme, and message you like a friend. The email will contain a link for you to click on. Do not answer the email, and do not click on the link. Just delete it.
Bitcoin scam
According to the Internet Security Office, the mail is identified with subjects that begin with ‘I hope that…’ such as: ‘I hope you are having a wonderful day’, ‘I hope you are doing well’, ‘I sincerely hope you are having a fantastic day’, ‘I hope you are enjoying an amazing day’ ‘I sincerely hope you are having a nice day at work’, ‘I hope you are having a lovely day’, ‘I hope you are having an excellent day’, ‘I sincerely hope you are having an amazing day ‘, ‘I hope you’re doing well’, ‘I hope you’re having a great day at work’ or the like.
The content of this email is a single catchy phrase that encourages the user to click on the link to be redirected to a fraudulent page to invest in bitcoins.
However, if you have clicked on the link, it is advisable for you to contact your bank to enable it to take the appropriate security measures.
“Sextorsion”
The second fraudulent email scheme this week involves “sextorsion”. In this case, the victims are told they must pay a certain amount of money in bitcoins in exchange for not publishing and sharing intimate recordings. Anyone could be a victim, since in reality there are no such recordings. But it is the pretext that is used to cause concern in the event of a “fake” video being produced. This is, therefore, how they make their money.
In the body of the message, the victim is told that their device has been infected with spyware with which they have obtained allegedly intimate videos. The cybercriminals threaten to spread these videos to your contacts unless you make a bitcoin payment within 48 hours.
Pressure to make payment
The reason for this short period of time is to prevent the victim from stopping to think and analysing what is happening. Therefore, they depend on you to make the payment as soon as possible due to the fear of thinking that possible compromised material could be distributed.
If you have received an email like this, simply delete it. No-one has had access to your devices, nor has anyone recorded an intimate video without your knowledge. This is a scam that uses social engineering strategies to get you to follow the cybercriminal’s instructions.
NEVER pay anything to extortionists. Not only will you lose money, and possibly information, but it leaves you open to future scams.
Santander
The third fraudulent email ploy appears to be from Santander. It alerts you of a new notification. The post within the email advises you of a new document that is available and can be accessed through the client area by clicking on the link.
However, this email has been detected to contain a malicious file that wants to infect your device. Therefore, do not download, do not forward, just delete it.
BBVA
Yet another bank appears to be involved in the fourth fraudulent email. This time, it is impersonating BBVA. The message indicates to the user that their version of Android is not compatible with the mobile banking update. Therefore, they ask you to click on the link. However, their objective is to downloads malware to your device.
These fraudulent emails will be sent from a fake account generated through the email spoofing technique. In addition, to make it more believable, within the recipients, they may have added addresses of some of your known contacts.
Online security
If you receive emails that you have not requested or are from unknown sources;
- do not open them, just delete them
- keep all your devices and antivirus updated
- never give personal or banking information online
- be careful of clicking on links
- check the URL
Also read: More Saturday scams
