Hacker Enlists Other Unwitting Hackers in Scam

Skilled malware writers have found a way for less experienced cyber criminals to do their work for them. A new freeware phishing kit being offered in hacker forums offers cyber criminals a way to set up fake websites and spam emails to capture users’ legitimate login credentials.

However, the malware writers are able to siphon off a significant portion of entered login credentials, leaving only a few for the cyber…

Webcam Chat Site Leaves Users Vulnerable Study Says

Privacy flaws in Chatroulette.com, a webcam-based chat site, could leave users open to security risks, according to researchers. Security researchers at McGill University and University of Colorado at Boulder demonstrated that a pre-recorded low-quality video of an attractive woman could cause most participants to believe that the feed was actually live.

The technology could be used prior to a phishing attack. The researchers found a way to use…

Local Maryland Bank Targeted by Phishing Attack

Yet another bank in the Washington, D.C., metro area has been hit with a phishing attack. The Bank of Glen Burnie in Maryland is urging consumers to be vigilant about an email phishing scam designed to look like an online expiration warning from the bank.

Bank customers were informed by an email their account would be deleted if they did not…

June Busy Month for Cyber Criminals Targeting Colleges

Three U.S. universities were recently targeted by separate cyber attacks attempting to either dupe students into revealing personal information or extract student data by hacking school computer systems.

SPAMFighter reports how some students at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., fell for an email scam claiming to be from the “Webmail Administrator” of the school. The email urged recipients to click on an embedded link.

A systems security communications manager said…

Study: Millions of Swedes Potential Victims of Phishing Scams

With nearly 4 million Facebook members, Sweden has one of the highest rates of users of the popular social-networking site. But as familiar as the Swedes are with online networking, many will still fall victim to cyber crime and scams, according to a recent study.

Swedish IT security company Check Point Sverige examined how easily Facebook users can be duped…

Phishing Experiment Reveals Many Students Ready to Hand Over Personal Info

An experiment conducted to find out how many would fall victim to a phishing scam netted nearly 1,000 out of 10,000 unsuspecting students at a university in the United Arab Emirates, according to The National.

The first part of the university-sanctioned experiment at the American University of Sharjah was conducted in April on 10,000 students, alumni, staff and faculty and tricked nearly 1,000 individuals into trying to change their university…

Hackers Target IM Apps

Security experts in Germany are warning about a new threat to MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger, V3.co.uk reports.

G Data SecurityLabs research noted a recent increase in spam and phishing sites that link to the services, as well as a surge of seemingly never-ending fake friend requests. Adding to these issues is an application that falsely promises to reveal to users who is blocking them.

The messages include links that…

Nantucket Man Charged with Stealing Income Tax Refunds

Authorities in Massachusetts have charged a Belorussian man for his alleged role in an international phishing scheme to steal income tax refunds intended for U.S. taxpayers.

According to the indictment, Mikalai Mardakhayeu and his co-scammers ran websites that offered lower-income taxpayers free online tax return preparation and tax return e-filing services. After taxpayers entered their tax information seeking refunds for federal and state taxes, co-conspirators in Belarus…

Government, Industry Join Forces to Fight Cyber Fraud

The private sector and the government have launched a new online-fraud alert service developed to make it easier for both parties to share information about cyber crime.

Up to date, when compromised credentials stemming from phishing attacks were uncovered, there was no easy way to warn the service provider or bank about the exposed information. The newly launched Internet Fraud Alert will make it easier for participants to report stolen…

Paraguyan Government Website Hosts Phishing Data

Phishing gangs are growing increasingly bold, evinced by researchers finding phishing data on website owned by the Paraguyan government. Sunbelt researchers discovered that a website belonging to the Paraguyan government is hosting data on banks and insurance companies in the United Kingdom gathered through phishing attacks.

The researchers have notified the website owners regarding the data cache. Typically, researchers will sit on the data and try to learn…