Criminals clone Folha website to carry out scams – 02/15/2024 – Tech

Scammers copied the company’s visual identity Sheet to carry out financial scams on internet users. There are at least 13 fraudulent websites on the air, according to a survey by the cybersecurity company Kaspersky carried out at the request of the report.

One of the fake websites still circulates in sponsored posts on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Messenger, according to the ad library from Meta — the holding company that owns all of these social networks.

When contacted, the technology giant states that activities that aim to deceive, defraud or exploit third parties are not permitted on its platforms. “We are always improving our technology to combat suspicious activity.”

The report found 50 false advertisements with images that make references to Sheet and the Terra website, from the Spanish group Telefónica and partner of Grupo Estado.

The fraudulent address mentions the closure of Polishop units, which, in fact, was reported by this and other newspapers. The fake article also reproduces the signature of Market reporter Júlia Moura, including a link to the journalist’s real page.

The website also mentions the CNPJ of the Sheet and credibility seals such as the Trust Project, which recognizes the quality of journalism practiced by the company. Public trust in the newspaper is used as an element of financial fraud.

Criminals add to the real story an alleged online sale with discounts of up to 76%. At the bottom of the text, there is a button that would lead to false settlement — another fraudulent website called “liquidashop”, a mix of settlement and Polishop, another company victim of the scam.

The liquidashop page offers a set of eight pans priced at R$799.96 for R$199.95, under the name “Complete Sauté Set + Lids (sic)”. A similar product on the Polishop website costs around R$800.

There are also several sold out products to reinforce the feeling of sale and a countdown until the end of the day. The scam material, however, has been on the air since at least February 5th, data from Meta’s ad library indicates.

Among the sponsored posts on social media, there are also reports of fake buyers to give the fake website a sense of authenticity.

Anyone who, attracted by the promotion, clicks to complete the purchase is redirected to a Market Pago page, where the victim provides their personal details, address and, finally, makes a payment.

All of these websites mentioned are not registered under the “.br” domain, which hides the data of the criminal who registered the addresses. Therefore, the report was unable to find them.

On the Reclame Aqui website, one of the people harmed by the criminals complains that he lost R$198 with the scam and was unable to get a refund from his bank after realizing he had fallen for a scheme.

The anonymous victim claims that he filed a police report.

There are, in total, 17 complaints against the fake website Liquida Shop, on Reclame Aqui. The company is not authenticated in the complaints repository.

When contacted, Market Pago did not respond to the company’s request for information. Sheetnor did it explain whether it actively moderates activities in its digital domains.

In its terms and conditions of use, the Argentine group Market Libre’s platform states that it may suspend, block or cancel users, without prior notification, if it concludes that any transactions constitute illegal activity.

Electronic fraud is typified by law 14,155 of 2021, which defines the crime of invading a computer device.

It’s a digital crime:

• hack computer device
• commercialize leaked information
• interruption of telephone, computer or public information service
• falsify document
• forge card
• commit fraud using an electronic device with or without breach of a security mechanism, use of a malicious program or other fraudulent means

Survey carried out by Sheet based on data from police reports from the state of São Paulo obtained via the access to information law, they show that Instagram was the second most cited platform in digital crimes in 2023, behind only WhatsApp, also from Meta.

Meta recommends that people report any content they believe goes against Facebook’s community standards, Instagram’s community guidelines, and Meta’s advertising standards through the apps themselves.

• To report abusive behavior, click on the ellipsis at the top right of the profile and select the “Report” option
• Instagram then asks the reason for the complaint. Meta recommends choosing the options “The content is inappropriate” and “You are pretending to be someone else”
• This last option requires the user to specify whether the fake account is pretending to be you, an acquaintance, an organization or a public figure.
• To finish, click on “Report account”

According to Insper information security professor Rodolfo Avelino, the fraud prevention methods adopted by social networks remain vulnerable to fraud. “Several attacks use valid domain names, which makes detection difficult, given the need to verify content; criminals themselves constantly try to circumvent existing controls.”

Data from cybersecurity company Kaspersky shows a 50% increase in scams that use fake messages as bait in 2023, called “phishing” by experts, compared to the previous year.

“New criminal groups emerge due to the proliferation of generative AI [como o ChatGPT]which is being used to create more convincing phishing messages,” says Kaspersky’s chief researcher for Latin America, Fabio Assolini.

See below the 13 fake websites that refer to Sheet found by cybersecurity company Kaspersky:

• leaf-sp.com
• portalfolhasp.com
• newspaperfolhasp.site
• brasilconsulta.folhadesp.site
• webmail.jornalfolha.online
• Folhadesp.smartfitplanos.shop
• newspaperfolhasp.blog
• sheetdesp.tech
• Folhaonlinesp.site
• Folhadesp.com
• sheettech.com
• Folhadesp.com
• newspaperfolha.online

The only official and possible way to access this website Sheet It is through the addresses Folha.uol.com.br and Folha.com.br.

A Sheet has taken necessary measures to prevent and remove the improper and illegal use of its brands, content and titles, as well as scam websites that clone the newspaper’s official website.