“Gameover” Delivered Via Phishing Emails
A recent phishing scheme perpetrated by cyber criminals involves spam emails that can infect recipients’ computers with malware and allow access to their bank accounts. The spam emails are purportedly from the National Automated Clearing House (NACHA), the Federal Reserve Bank, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The malware is called “Gameover” and once it’s on your computer, it can steal usernames and passwords and defeat common methods of user authentication employed by financial institutions. It is a newer variant of the Zeus malware, which was created several years ago and targeted banking information.
The phishing scheme works this way: Individuals receive an unsolicited email from NACHA, the Federal Reserve, or the FDIC advising there’s a problem with a bank account or recent transaction. There is a link in the email that will supposedly help resolve the issue. Unfortunately, the link goes to a phony website, and once there, the recipient inadvertently downloads the Gameover malware. The malware promptly infects the computer and steals banking information.
Recent investigations have shown that some of the funds stolen from bank accounts go toward the purchase of jewelry from high-end stores. The criminals contact these jewelry stores and promise to wire the money for the purchases the next day. A “money mule” gets involved in the money laundering aspect of the crime and goes to the store to pick up the merchandise. The mule turns over the jewelry to the scheme’s organizer or converts the jewelry to cash and uses money transfer services to launder the funds. In some cases, the money mule is unsuspecting and has been hired via “work at home” advertisements. They may be instructed to open a bank account or use their own account to receive funds via wire and ACH transactions – and then use money-remitting services to send the money overseas.
If you think you have been victimized by this type of phishing scheme, contact us right away. And please keep in mind the following tips to protect yourself:
- Make sure your computer’s anti-virus software is up-to-date.
- Don’t click on email attachments from unsolicited senders. NACHA, FDIC, and the Federal Reserve do not send unsolicited emails to bank account holders. If you want to confirm that there is a problem with your account, contact the bank directly.
- Don’t accept unsolicited jobs online that require you to receive funds from numerous bank accounts and then wire money to overseas accounts!