Crypto Scammers Use Fake Websites in Latest Bid to Dupe Customers
Illicit scheme involves exploiting SEO and using live chats, researchers say.
The real Kraken website
Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/BloombergScammers in recent weeks have employed up fake cryptocurrency web pages to attempt to steal money from users, the latest tactic to emerge in what’s already been a costly year for crypto-related hacks.
The sham websites – which masquerade as pages for popular services such as Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken and MetaMask – aim to dupe visitors into providing information that helps hackers break into their cryptocurrency wallets, according to researchers from the security firm Netskope Inc. Fraudsters deployed search-engine optimization tactics to promote the websites, which used URL addresses that closely resembled the legitimate sites and propelled the fake pages to the first page of Google’s search results, the researchers said.