Crypto Scams of the Week: Theta Network Scams & MetaMask Phishing
Author: Trend Micro
This article is from Trend Micro.
This week we found a few more deceptive crypto scams that you need to watch out for. Keep on reading for the low-down!
Theta Network Giveaway Scam
Theta Network is a blockchain infrastructure for video, media, and entertainment, and scammers have recently been impersonating the service and its employees to conduct a variety of scams.
One of those scams is fake giveaways — which the scammers have been running on various social media platforms.
Theta Facebook giveaway scam. Source
The screenshot above is of a fake Theta Network/Theta Labs giveaway that the scammers ran on Facebook. Claiming that people had won cryptocurrency (THETA and TFUEL), the scammers instructed potential victims to click on an embedded phishing link (blurred in the image above). After clicking on the link, they were prompted to enter certain sensitive credentials that would give the scammers access to their crypto wallet. If you see a scam such as this, don’t take the bait!
Fake Theta Website
The scammers also went so far as to create their very own fake Theta website, as can be seen in the image below.
Fake Theta website. Source
Fortunately, the website appears to be offline now, but when it was live it claimed to offer an airdrop giveaway. To claim their “prizes” victims needed to provide sensitive data relating to their crypto wallets — which the scammers could use to steal all their crypto.
There have also been reports of people being tricked into making PayPal payments to the scammers, what people are referring to as a “Theta network payment scam.”
Theta Tech Support Scams
Scammers have also been posing as Theta customer service/tech support on social media and pretending to help people with tech issues, while really just trying to get them to visit malicious websites that will steal their personal information.
Fake Theta tech support. Source
Fake Theta tech support. Source
If you have a Theta-related issue, you can reach out to the company’s support team directly via email at support@thetatoken.org.
MetaMask Phishing Scam
We also saw a lot of MetaMask phishing emails this week. Like the Theta scams above, these emails are designed to trick people into parting with sensitive information that will allow the scammers access to their crypto wallets.
MetaMask phishing email
It’s very important to note that in the email above, the sender’s email address appears to be legitimate, with the domain “metamask.io” (the genuine MetaMask website is metamask.io). Scammers did this by tampering with the email header. You can easily spot phishing emails with Trend Micro Check even in situations such as this where they’re heavily disguised as real ones.
After clicking the “Start verification” button, victims are taken to a fake MetaMask website at the following URL:
- metamaski[.]cc
Keep an eye out for these scam emails!
Protect Yourself with Trend Micro Check
- Double-check people’s contact details — and URLs.
- Reach out to official websites and support pages directly for help if in doubt.
- NEVER use links or buttons from unknown sources! Use Trend Micro Check to detect scams with ease: Trend Micro Check is an all-in-one browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!
After you’ve pinned the Trend Micro Check extension, it will block dangerous sites automatically! (Available on Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge).
You can also download the Trend Micro Check mobile app for 24/7 automatic scam and spam detection and filtering. (Available for Android and iOS).
As ever, if you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read, please do SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected. Also, please consider clicking the LIKE button below.
Source: pexels.com
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