Security News
Misconfigurations in smart contracts are being exploited by scammers to create malicious cryptocurrency tokens with the goal of stealing funds from unsuspecting users. Smart contracts are programs stored on the blockchain that are automatically executed when predetermined conditions are met according to the terms of a contract or an agreement.
The Omicron variant has contributed to a 521 per cent rise in COVID test related scam emails between October 2021 and January 2022, according to Barracuda Networks. One of the most common scams include offers to sell counterfeit or unauthorised COVID tests, and other medical supplies such as masks or gloves.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore says it is considering supervisory action against Southeast Asia's second largest bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, which was criticised for its incident response to a widespread phishing scheme across the island nation. "Monetary Authority Singapore takes a serious view of the recent phishing scams involving OCBC Bank. They have significantly impacted several customers. OCBC has acknowledged that its incident response and customer service should have been better. MAS has been following up with the bank on these and broader issues relating to the incident," said MAS deputy managing director Ms Ho Hern Shin in a statement to The Register.
The FBI is seeing so much activity around malicious Google Voice activity, where victims are associated with fraudulent virtual phone numbers, that it sent out an alert this week. So they tell you they will send you a Google authentication code in the form of a voice call or a text message, and then ask you to repeat the number back to them to prove you're real.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation says Americans who share their phone number online are being targeted by Google Voice authentication scams. If successful, they will set up a Google Voice account in their victims' names or hijack their Gmail accounts which will later be used in other fraud schemes or in phishing attacks.
At the same time, you'll also know how easy it is to get accused of copyright wrongdoing yourself, even if you're always careful only to use third-party material in accordance with the original creator's licensing guidelines. Because of the frequent argy-bargy that surrounds online copyright issues, social networks have established formal procedures for making complaints and appealing against takedowns.
T-Mobile says it blocked 21 billion scam, spam, and unwanted robocalls this year through its free Scam Shield robocall and scam protection service, amounting to an average of 1.8 billion scam calls identified or blocked every month. Last year, when it announced the Scam Shield service, T-Mobile said it could detect or block approximately 12 billion scam calls in 2019 and that around 30 million Americans fell victim to a phone scam within 12 months.
The US Federal Trade Commission said Americans reported losing $148 million to gift card scams during the first nine months of 2021, following a significant increase compared to last year. Almost 40,000 consumers reported falling victim to scams where gift cards were the chosen form of payment throughout the year.
The global pandemic has provided cover for all sorts of phishing scams over the past couple of years, and the rise in alarm over the spread of the latest COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is no exception. U.K. consumer watchdog "Which?" has raised the alarm that a new phishing scam, doctored up to look like official communications from the National Health Service, is targeting people with fraud offers for free PCR tests for the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Black Friday is approaching, and cybercriminals are honing their malware droppers, phishing lures, and fake sites while shoppers prepare to open their wallets. The security firm shared a detailed report highlighting the most common threats expected to surface during this year's Black Friday, as well as the Christmas shopping season.