Thursday, March 28

Fake Amazon Cryptocurrency, Scammers Use Refined Techniques


Second report of Akamai, the American internet services company, scammers are using refined techniques to lure victims. In this case, criminals are using fake news pages to promote the sale of an Amazon cryptocurrency, which doesn’t even exist.

One of the biggest reasons this scam works is people’s greed. Allied to this, scammers use techniques to rush victims, making it seem like they don’t have time to conduct deeper research.

Although it is not possible to know the amount that has already been stolen, an important fact is that most of the traffic from these fake sites comes from countries in South America, such as Brazil.

Amazon fake cryptocurrency

Today we have several industry giants joining the cryptocurrency world, as an example we have Elon Musk’s Tesla and more recently even Intel and Google.

So falling for the scam of Amazon’s fake cryptocurrency doesn’t seem all that uncommon. The narrative of this scam was further strengthened after rumors that the company would be entering this market.

As a result, scammers created several fake websites to sell the “Amazon Token”, a cryptocurrency that doesn’t even exist. As shown by the Akamai report, criminals first create a website identical to major news portals like CNBC that contains a link to another fake website where the scam is applied.

“Amazon Token Pre-Order is Coming”

Fake site imitating CNBC news site. Source: Akamai
Amazon Cryptocurrency Scam Website.  Source: Akamai
Amazon Cryptocurrency Scam Website. Source: Akamai

The Akamai study also points out that scammers use refined techniques to keep both sites active. In addition to using a fake news site to redirect the victim to another, as shown above, they also use captchas to prevent security services from finding the content. That is, only potential victims will have access.

Finally, websites also use JavaScript obfuscation, a technique used to make it harder for others to find malicious code. While not something new, Akamai points out, it shows the level of commitment of the scammers.

Most victims are from South America

The report also points out that the same scammers use multiple sites, maximizing the chance that a victim will fall for the scam. Regarding location, most accesses to these sites originate in South America.

Location of victims of fake Amazon cryptocurrency.  Source: Akamai
Location of victims of fake Amazon cryptocurrency. Source: Akamai

With 35% of hits, South America is the continent with the highest number of potential victims. Obviously this includes Brazil. Followed by North America with 29%, Asia with 27% and Africa with just 9%.

Finally, the study also points out that the sites use a progressive bar for the sale of this fake Amazon cryptocurrency. That is, the victim enters the site and is faced with the sale getting closer and closer to its end, awakening a sense of urgency.

As a result, victims end up forgetting to carry out a more detailed search and fall for the scam. Therefore, to avoid such scams, always avoid making investments when you are in a hurry, especially when this is encouraged by third parties.





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