Users urged to login because of ‘issues’.
A new phishing campaign that targets users of
Google AdWords
looks worryingly real,
GFI
reports.
The phish begins with an email claiming the recipient’s
Google
ads have stopped running because of ‘a number of issues’. A link in the email can be clicked for more information, which sends the user to a fake, but realistic-looking
Google
login page.
When (any) login credentials are filled in, the user is redirected to a
page
of
AdWords
FAQs that seems related to the issue referred to in the email. (Note that this page can be viewed without the need to be logged in to
Google
.)
While experienced users are unlikely to fall for such a scam – they will know not to click links in emails and will notice that the domain ‘google-lft dot com’ is not
Google
‘s – this scam is rather well executed and may see some victims falling for it. It is not hard to imagine how login credentials to the affiliate advertisement program can be monetized.
The domain google-lft dot com was registered at an Australian ISP by one Eric Polaski, who recently also registered domains such as paypal-ail dot com and paypal-frd dot com, which seem unlikely to have a legitimate purpose. It was still active at time of writing but
Virus Bulletin
has notified the ISP.
More at
GFI
here
.
Posted on 13 October 2011 by
Virus Bulletin
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