Scammers Working Hard Over Northern Summer As Vacation-Related Online Scams Rise: Check Point Research

As the northern hemisphere summer gets into full swing, cybercriminals are getting active registering domain names relating to summer vacations, warns Check Point Research.

In May 2023, 29,880 domain names relating to holidays or breaks were created. This represents a 23% year-on-year increase compared with the same period last year, when 24,367 new domains were created. Of those websites that went live, 1 in every 83 were either malicious or suspicious.

Check Point’s researchers also observed several phishing campaigns. One of these was an email allegedly sent from “(the name of the target’s company) Director of Human Resources” with the subject “(the name of the target’s company) Submittal – for – vacations – approval – announcement.”

The email is a fake announcement from the Director of Human Resources regarding the annual and summer open vacation plan for the year 2023, warns Check Point. It provides information about vacation days, weekends, office closures for public holidays and terminated employees.

To enter this list, the victim needs to click on the malicious link: mail\.matchs\.best which mimics a legitimate Microsoft login page and is intended to steal the victim’s credentials.

Another example of a phishing campaign Check Point observed were phishing emails that mimiced the airline company TAP Air Portugal. The email was sent from no-reply@flytap\.com with the subject “Flight delay compensation EUR 135”

The contact of the phishing emails is trying to lure the target into clicking on a malicious link in a claim, informing the victim that, as their last flight with TAP Portugal was delayed, they are entitled to compensation. The email contains this malicious site: green\.poc\.mk – which mimics the company site and steals the target’s credentials.

In their post reporting on the phishing campaigns by cybercriminals, Check Point give five tips on how to help stay protected against the next phishing attack, these being to:

  • always buy from an authentic and reliable source by going directly to the retailer and not following links from emails or text messages
  • always check the domain name of the website and ensure it is legitimate
  • be aware of “too good to be true” offers with prices ridiculously low
  • ensure there is a locked padlock in the address bar on your web browser
  • use email security to help prevent scam emails ending up in your inbox.

For more information on this research from Check Point security, or for more information on staying protected from phishing attacks, see: blog.checkpoint.com/security/beware-of-summer-scams-vacation-related-online-scams-are-on-the-rise-warns-check-point-research/

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