The experts of the cybersecurity company CloudSEK they wanted to alert us to the dangers associated with online loans. According to them, in fact, there is an ongoing scam campaign involving flash financing, with money that is then directed towards China.
According to the report, the hacker they are managing just under around fifty Android apps, many of which simulate popular banking institutions (especially in the Indian context). Such software, hosted on third-party stores o Web sites specially made, they are advertised with a certain insistence on social network.
Here, the ads offer quick loans with easy repayment conditions. All of this, as per practice for online scams, in exchange for personal information, such as address, name, telephone number and data regarding the Bank account.
The victim is asked to pay a administrative commissionusually equal to 5% of the sum requested. Obviously, once this payment is obtained, the scammers disappear.
Online loans and scams: beware of flash loans advertised on social networks
Apparently, the hackers have already stolen more than $44,000 with this modus operandi. Once the money is stolen, it is moved to Chinese territory. By exploiting the lack of adequate regulations, attackers can thus cover their tracks quite easily.
Per Sparsh KulshresthaSenior Security Analyst at CloudSEK “One trend we have observed is fraudsters exploiting Chinese payment gateways due to their relative ease of use and limited regulatory oversight“.
In some cases, in order to escape more easily, cybercriminals exploit several payment gatewaypassing the money through different countries (such as Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Mexico and beyond).
Although online loan scams are currently linked to Asian nations, India above all, we must not underestimate the situation in Europe too. With the economic crisis spreading and with many users still not adequately prepared for Web threats, this type of threat could soon spread to the West as well.
