Kaspersky Lab reports on the activation of scammers, disguised as Bitmain representatives, allegedly selling Antminer S19j miners. Having received payment in cryptocurrencies, the attackers disappear.
The proliferation of such fraudulent schemes is associated with an increase in demand for mining equipment and delays in deliveries. It is expected that this situation may last until at least the second half of 2021. Therefore, cybercriminals seek to capitalize on this situation by creating clones of the site of Bitmain, a Chinese manufacturer of mining equipment.
Miners began to receive emails stating that allegedly these people were mentioned in the Google Docs file by a user under the pseudonym BitmainTech as employees of the Bitmain sales department. However, the sender’s real email address remains hidden.
In their ads, scammers report the sale of Antminer S19j ASIC miners. Since stocks of equipment are limited and the text is replete with credible facts and figures, interested users open the Google Docs file with an active link and click on it. Users are then redirected to the “cloned” Bitmain site – bitmain [.] To [.] Com, which was registered in March 2021. To be more convincing, attackers use the HTTPS protocol. However, this does not at all prove the good faith of the site. HTTPS only means secure data transmission, in this case to cybercriminals.
On the real Bitmain site, the Buy button is inactive, since the last batch of Antminer S19j from stock has long been sold out, and new retail deliveries of ASIC miners will not begin until October. On a fake site, this equipment is available for sale at a price of $ 5017. Kaspersky Lab specialists tried to “place an order” from cybercriminals. The victim needs to sign in or register. By collecting a database of addresses and passwords, fraudsters can use this data to hack accounts or sell. Despite registering using a disposable email address, security professionals never received a confirmation email. Regardless, the system allowed them to log in and place an order.
The delivery of equipment implies high costs, but attackers are ready to charge only $ 5 for it, regardless of the destination. Among the payment methods, only BTC, BCH, ETH and LTC cryptocurrencies are available. Then the user is required to transfer the cryptocurrency to the specified address within two hours, otherwise the order will be canceled. It is noteworthy that the cost of delivery is not indicated on the invoice. After the victim gives up his crypto-assets, the pseudo-sellers of ASIC miners “evaporate”. In the user’s personal account, all order data is erased, and the buttons cease to function.
Kaspersky Lab urges miners to be careful. To protect themselves from fraudsters, users are advised to pay special attention if someone asks to hurry up with payment. You should also be on your guard in case of scarce goods for sale and visit the official website of the company to find there information about possible promotions for the product. In addition, be sure to check the site’s address bar.
Analysts at Kaspersky Lab suggest that this year the number of cases of cryptocurrency fraud will increase, and the damage from such crimes could reach $ 4.5 billion.
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