Cyber security platform TitanHQ has revealed that you are more likely to be hacked on your birthday than on any other day of the year. The cyber experts have done some digging to find out the most popular scams used by crooks over the last year and are warning everyone with access to the internet to be on the lookout for some less-publicised phishing scams.

The team have shared some of the surprising ways that you could be targeted online and how to prevent it from happening.

Phishing emails usually appear as a message of urgency such as a key password is about to expire or payment details need to be updated in order to rush users through a desired call to action before thinking about what they are really doing. However, another way is to hit them in a vulnerable moment in which they have their guard down, such as a birthday.

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The Happy Birthday email

In a new trend that exploits flattery, attackers send targeted victims an email on their birthday. These are no generic attacks as the attackers must actually know when your birthday is.

The email contains a birthday greeting that invites the user to click on a link to see the e-birthday card that a loved one has sent - sometimes even going as far as to tell the victim they have an Amazon gift card waiting for them that someone purchased for their birthday.

But of course, there is no e-card or voucher, just a weaponized malware payload such as ransomware that will now invade your network once it infiltrates your computer.

The Question Quiz scam

Everyone loves to win, especially if it’s a contest that involves a prize. Recently, the Akamai Threat Research team uncovered an attack they call the ‘question quiz’. The targeted victim receives an email or Facebook Invite from a well-established brand asking them to participate in a quiz. Those who participate and complete the quiz are told they will receive a nice prize and end up scammed instead.

This attack was backed by an elaborate network of over 9,000 domains and subdomains. Each domain was only used for a short amount of time and then discarded before it could be properly classified as malicious. The attack also disguised the attacks using an array of content delivery network (CDN) features.

The Google contest winner

With this scam, the victim receives an email announcing that they are the latest ‘Google Winner’ as a way to thank you for being a loyal user of Google services.

The email includes precise directions as to how to claim your prize, which of course involves sharing your personal details with Google.

The letter also includes a link taking you to a fake Google site that requires you to log on with your Google credentials.

While the criminals don’t steal any funds in this scam, they do walk away with your Google details, which people often use at many third-party sites, as well as personal information that can be used to validate your identity.

The MFA attack

Multifactor authentication (MFA) is highly recommended today for any resource site that requires login credentials, but don’t think that MFA is foolproof - cybercriminals are quickly developing ways around it.

During this phishing attack, a user usually clicks on a link that takes them to a website that is spoofing their bank’s webpage.

The victim then inputs their credentials, which the attacker captures in real-time and immediately uses them. The attacker’s then log on to the actual bank’s site and initiates an MFA check which the user assumes was initiated by their own login attempt.

A pop-up then appears on the spoofed page prompting the user to type in their MFA code. Once this is inputted, the attacker now gains complete access to the victim’s account and can change the MFA phone number if desired.

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Three most common scams in 2022

TitanHQ is also urging people to be aware of some of the more common cyber scams which involve:

The invoice scam

• An email alerts you of an outstanding invoice from a known vendor and provides you with a link to pay the invoice. The link leads to a spoofed website and you type in your credentials, an attacker steals them and uses them to access funds.

The bank scam

• Your bank or credit company emails you requesting that you update your personal information and payment information for their records with a link to a spoof site.

The tax scam

• Then there is that dreaded email from the tax office alerting you that you owe money and are facing legal action if not paid in full within an allotted amount of time.

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The best way to protect yourself from potential scammers is to show caution when opening new messages and emails from senders unknown.

If you don’t recognise the name, number of email address, delete it - if it’s genuine, they will find another way to contact you that looks a little less phishy.

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