In the last couple of weeks, there has been an increase in the number of people who have been duped into sharing their card details and other personal information with a network of fake online designer shops that are operated from China, which appear to have duped over 800,000 people in Europe and the United States.
This report by the Guardian, Die Zeit, and Le Monde gives an inside look at one of the biggest scams of its kind, one that has created 76,000 fake websites in the UK, considered one of the largest scams.
A large number of fake web shops have been created on an industrial scale by programmers who offer discounted goods from brands like Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace, Prada, and many others on an industrial scale.
It is believed that over 75,000 websites with logos of various high-end brands, such as Nike, UNIQLO, Paul Smith, and Cartier, are carrying out the ruse, which has been called one of the biggest scams ever to take place.
These English versions of the sites are accompanied by duplicates in several other European languages such as French, German, Spanish and Italian, intended to scam unsuspecting consumers from around the globe.
According to SR Labs, a German cybersecurity consultancy that uncovered the scam, a group of programmers had developed a system that enabled them to create and deploy new websites rapidly, which dramatically increased their reach.
As a result, programmers are operating on an industrial scale to create thousands of fake online shops selling Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace, Prada and other luxury brands at discounts.
In most cases consumers who spoke about their experiences said that they did not receive any items from the sites, as they had no affiliation to the brands they were claiming to sell.
It is important to note that in many cases these scammers are not looking to get money from customers.
Even though the funds remained in their accounts, their details - including their full names, addresses, credit card numbers and three-digit security codes - were all in the hands of the scammers, even though their details remained in their accounts.
It's important to realize that, as a matter of course, it is safe to assume that the Chinese government might be able to access the data, he stated.
According to her, many of these individuals belong to serious and organised crime groups, or they are affiliated with them, and so they may harvest data that they will be able to use against people later, which makes consumers more vulnerable to phishing attacks.
A German cybersecurity consultancy called Security Research Labs disclosed the existence of the fake shop's network to Die Zeit, which obtained several gigabytes of data from several sources and shared that data with them.
He explained that he believes a small team of programmers has been able to develop a system that can automate a portion of the process for creating and deploying new versions of scam sites, which will help the company grow rapidly.
A growing number of people are becoming victims of online scams.
Remarkably, online shopping fraud emerged as the second most frequently reported scam.
Matt Hepburn, the designated spokesperson on fraud matters for TSB, underscored that purchase fraud stands as a primary catalyst for online financial crime in the UK. He advocated for heightened vigilance on the part of technology companies, emphasizing the imperative for them to bolster safeguards that shield consumers.
Specifically, he urged search engines and tech platforms to proactively curtail user exposure to fraudulent sites and expeditiously remove reported scam content.
Echoing similar sentiments, Hester Abrams, serving as the international engagement manager at Stop Scams UK, stressed the necessity for concerted efforts by both businesses and governmental entities to elevate scam prevention to the forefront of their agendas.
Abrams emphasized the potential efficacy of a more cohesive international approach to combating criminal exploitation of digital systems, highlighting the substantial impact that such collective action could yield against scammers.
This Cyber News was published on www.cysecurity.news. Publication date: Sun, 12 May 2024 14:28:06 +0000