Fraud Network of Over 10,000 Fake Investment Sites

Nowadays, there are a lot of fake websites and brands that closely mimic the original, and a number of websites also contain sophisticated phishing kits. However, such a scale of fake sites of a specific type represents a new phenomenon in the threat landscape. This large-scale scam, first discovered by Group-IB’s security team, targets potential investors in the UK, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Norway, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Using a mix of compromised social media accounts, social engineering, call center agents and some convincingly genuine-looking fake websites, this latest scam attempts to trick victims into repeatedly investing in seemingly legitimate offers. Jelle Wieringa of KnowBe4 recommends that companies conduct regular security training, saying, “The number of successful phishing attacks on a company can be greatly reduced through comprehensive security awareness training. The result of such training is increased awareness regarding the dangers and how to recognize such attacks.”