Beware of Free Piano Messages that Steal Personal & Financial Data

Hackers target and steal non-public and financial records for fraud and other illicit purposes.

They additionally sell the records on the black market for income.

They exploit this files to attain unauthorized access to bank accounts, credit rating playing cards, and other precious resources.

Cybersecurity researchers at Proofpoint only in the near previous warned of complimentary Piano messages that steal non-public and financial records.

Technical analysis

Proofpoint uncovered an ongoing contrivance fee fraud campaign that has been ongoing since January 2024.

The campaign has despatched over 125,000 emails, luring targets, basically students and college at North American universities and other industries, with promises of free pianos.

When recipients engage, the menace actors impersonate shipping corporations, demanding upfront “offer costs.”

This piano-themed social engineering draw goals to extract cash from victims under pretenses illegally.

The ongoing piano contrivance fee fraud rip-off has netted over $900,000 to a single Bitcoin pockets by tricking recipients, usually students and college, into paying upfront “offer costs” for non-existent free pianos.

Leveraging freemail accounts, the actors impersonate shipping corporations and rating non-public records from victims all over fee techniques cherish Zelle, CashApp, and cryptocurrency.

With varying electronic mail yelp and contact details, numerous menace actors seemingly accomplish the most of the an identical pockets for diverse concurrent scams, given the excessive transaction volume and diversity.

This campaign is seemingly operated in piece from Nigeria per diagnosed perpetrator records and baits victims with interpret reviews to extract upfront costs under false promises of greater future payouts.

After obtaining non-public details and preliminary payments via social engineering, the menace actors set up contact, making off with the illicit funds.

This centuries-aged rip-off, identified as Nigerian 419 fraud, exploits greed all over countless adaptations however reliably robs victims of their cash.

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