Phishers go after car sales companies

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Automotive sales businesses, based both in the UK and US, have been targeted by phishers, a security company has warned.

The attackers have attempted to acquire personal information by claiming to be from legitimate sales brands, Symantec noted.

Such legitimate sites help people buy and sell vehicles, as well as provide the option to advertise cars or motorbikes.

In attacks tracked by Symantec, a number of fake web pages were crafted, claiming the brand was offering the facility to advertise for free. These sites also featured the claim “We fight fraud for you.”

Of course, once users had entered personal data, such as their email address, the ad’s ID and a security question, along with the answer, they placed themselves at risk of fraud.

Other fake web pages asked for information, supposedly needed to make a payment towards buying a vehicle the customer had selected.

Purportedly required data in these cases included credit card numbers, card expiration datse and its security code, along with the address, phone number and email address of the customer.

Another phishing site told the customer their account was “on-hold” and they needed to sign in to reactivate it, asking for an email address and password.

Interestingly, once login information was entered, the user would be redirected to the legitimate site.

“The primary motive behind these phishing attacks was financial gain,” Symantec noted in a blog.

Phishers have gone after specific industries in the past, notably the financial sector.

Five men and one woman were arrested earlier this month in relation to an investigation into a phishing network believed to have compromised 10,000 bank accounts.

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