Phishers Target Automotive Sales Brands

In the past couple of months, Symantec has observed phishing attacks on legitimate automotive sales brands that are based in the UK and the USA. These brands help customers to sell new and used vehicles such as cars, motorbikes, etc. The legitimate websites also provide customers with the facility to advertise the vehicles they wish to sell.
There were several phishing sites created to harvest customers’ confidential information. The phishing sites were hosted on free Web hosting domains. In one of the phishing sites the page stated that the brand was offering customers the opportunity to advertise for free. The customer was required to complete an identity verification (that was fake) so as to avail of the free offer. The verification process prompted for the customer’s email address, the ad’s ID, and a security question with its answer. In this attack the fraudsters attempted to convince customers that the phishing page was authentic by providing the caption “We fight fraud for you!!” On the contrary, if customers fall victim to the phishing site, the fraudsters will have succeeded in stealing their identities.

A second phishing site stated that the customer’s account was being kept “on-hold” and that he or she had to sign in to re-activate the account. After login information is entered, the page redirects to the legitimate site. (continue reading...)