New phishing and malware attacks today targeting Office 365, Xero and DropBox users have emphasised a growing trend of brand exploitation.
In the past 24 hours, cybercriminals have tried to impersonate Xero, Office 365 and DropBox in phishing scams detected by MailGuard.
Each ploy attempts to steal passwords and other account information – sometimes installing costly malware with just one click.
And while you might know better than to click a grammatically-challenged email with an outdated logo, you’d be surprised by how many people take the bait.
Phishing scams come and go. They evolve and adapt as new tactics prove more lucrative. In fact, this year alone more than 18,400 Australians have fallen victim to phishing, costing more than $55 million, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
So why are brand-impersonation scam emails so popular? Here are some factors:
Office 365 fake ‘undelivered message’
In today’s Office 365 phishing email, detected by MailGuard, the recipient receives a message about an undelivered message.
A link takes users to a fake Office 365 log-in page which harvests the credentials of the user.
As many people – dangerously – use the same log-in and password information across many internet sites, victims may inadvertently hand over the keys to their bank accounts and other sensitive account information.
Fake Xero invoice malware scam
Meanwhile, Xero has again been impersonated by cybercriminals intent on a quick payday.
The phishing email appears to come from a Xero software user. It tells recipients they need to pay an outstanding invoice. A link in the email takes users to a SharePoint page containing malware.
It’s the second time Xero users have been the target of a malware attack in the past week, albeit today’s version is on a much smaller scale. Other accounting software providers including Intuit QuickBooks and FreshBooks have also been targeted recently.
Scammers impersonate DropBox to siphon account details
Another fake log-in page is the vehicle for this faux-DropBox phishing attempt, identified by MailGuard this afternoon. Again the attempt is to harvest valuable log-in and password credentials.
To reduce the risk of being tricked by one of these scams, you should immediately delete any emails that:
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