Company researchers ESET they discovered that an organized fraud network telecopy has expanded its operations to target users of popular accommodation booking platforms such as Booking a Airbnb. Phishing sites look very believable, and a regular visitor to an accommodation booking portal will not even notice that they are on a fraudulent website.
Telekopie is a toolkit that acts as a bot within the platform Telegramwhere even amateur attackers are provided with tools for automated execution of online fraud. It is used by dozens of fraudulent groups with up to thousands of members, who embezzle millions of euros from their victims.
Fraudsters need almost no technical knowledge, Telekopie takes care of everything in seconds. Almost anyone can become a cybercriminal if they do not have a properly set moral compass.
The scenario of fraud with Booking and Airbnb websites is simple. The attackers send an email to the targeted user of the service and claim that they have a problem with the payment for the reservation. The email contains a link to a well-crafted, legitimate-looking website mimicking the exploited platform.
The page contains pre-filled information about the reservation, i.e. arrival and departure dates, price and location. The information provided on the fraudulent pages coincides with the actual reservations made by the user.
“Fraudsters achieve this by using compromised accounts of legitimate hotels and accommodation providers on platforms they are likely to acquire by purchasing stolen credentials on cybercriminal forums. By accessing these accounts, fraudsters pick out and target users who have recently booked a stay and haven’t paid yet – or have only recently paid.”
explains ESET researcher Radek Jizba, who discovered and analyzed Telekopye.
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Even a more experienced Internet user can fall for this type of fraud if he is less careful and does not check the web address to which he was redirected after clicking on the link. Before you fill out any form, always make sure that you are on the real page of the service or application of the given platform. A visible sign that something is wrong is different URL address website that does not match the legitimate website.
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Source: www.mojandroid.sk
