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Fallen Victim to Zelle Scams During the Holiday Season

Identity theft is a serious concern at a time of rapid technology development and digital commerce. It becomes essential to strengthen our defenses against potential cyber threats as we negotiate the complexities of internet platforms and financial services. Identity protection must be prioritized immediately, as shown by several recent instances. 

A thorough analysis by CNET states that as more people become aware of the significance of protecting their personal information online, there is a growing demand for identity theft protection services. The paper emphasizes that because hackers have become more skilled, protecting sensitive data needs to be done proactively.

The holiday season, a time of increased financial activity, poses additional challenges. Fraudsters exploit popular money transfer services like Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App during this period. As we enter 2023, it is crucial to be aware of potential threats and adopt preventive measures. Emily Mason's analysis serves as a wake-up call, urging users to exercise caution and be vigilant in protecting their accounts.

One of the prevalent scams involves Zelle, as reported by sources. Victims of Zelle scams find themselves ensnared in a web of financial deceit, with the aftermath often leaving them grappling for solutions. Refund scams, in particular, have become a cause for concern, prompting financial experts to emphasize the need for enhanced security measures and user education.

To fortify your defenses against identity theft and financial fraud, consider implementing the following recommendations:
  • Employ Robust Identity Theft Protection Services: Invest in reputable identity theft protection services that monitor your personal information across various online platforms.
  • Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Add an extra layer of security to your accounts by enabling 2FA. This additional step can thwart unauthorized access attempts.
  • Stay Informed and Vigilant: Keep abreast of the latest scams and fraud techniques. Awareness is your first line of defense.
  • Regularly Monitor Financial Statements: Review your bank and credit card statements regularly for any suspicious activity. Promptly report any discrepancies to your financial institution.
  • Educate Yourself on Common Scams: Familiarize yourself with the modus operandi of common scams, such as refund fraud and phishing attempts, to recognize and avoid potential threats.
Safeguarding your identity in the constantly changing world of digital transactions is a shared duty between users and the platforms they use. People can greatly lower their chance of being victims of identity theft and financial fraud by being informed and taking preventative action. As technology develops, maintaining the integrity of our personal data increasingly depends on taking a proactive approach to security.

Android Trojans are After Financial Apps With Over a Billion Downloads

 

The exploitation of financial apps by trojans has become prevalent, according to a report by Zimperium, a mobile security firm. Trojans are a type of malware that infects users' devices by posing as legitimate and trustworthy programs. The researchers looked at ten separate trojans that are currently active in the open and discovered that they target 639 financial Android apps when combined. 

Once they've infected a device, they leverage Accessibility services to take actions as the user, overlaying login pages on top of authentic banking and finance apps to steal login details, monitoring notifications to capture OTPs, and even carrying out on-device financial fraud. This is particularly concerning because, according to 2021 studies, three out of four Americans use banking applications to conduct their regular financial activities, offering a large target pool for these trojans.

The Google Play Store has slightly over 1 billion downloads of these mobile banking, investment, payment, and cryptocurrency apps combined. PhonePe, which is immensely popular in India and has 100 million downloads on the Play Store, is the targeted application with the most downloads. 

The popular bitcoin exchange software Binance has received 50 million downloads. Cash App is a mobile payment service that is available in the United States and the United Kingdom, with 50 million downloads on Google Play. Even though they don't provide traditional financial services, some banking Trojans target both of these. BBVA, a worldwide online banking platform with tens of millions of downloads, is the most widely marketed application. Seven of the ten most active banking trojans have been found to target this app. 

Additional trojans which were active during the first half of 2021 include the following: 

  • BianLian is a malware that targets Binance, BBVA, and several Turkish apps.
  • Cabassous is after clients from Barclays, CommBank, Halifax, Lloys, and Santander. 
  • Coper may take over accounts from BBVA, Caixa Bank, CommBank, and Santander. 
  • Barclays, Intensa, BancoPosta, and a slew of other Italian apps are among the targets of EventBot. This one uses Microsoft Word or Adobe Flash to hide its true identity. 
  • PayPal, Binance, Cash App, Barclays, BBVA, and CaixaBank may all be affected by the aforementioned Exobot. 
  • FluBot affected BBVA, Caixa, Santander, and several other Spanish apps. 
  • Medusa was a banking app that targeted BBVA, CaixaBank, Ziraat, and Turkish banks. 
  • Binance, BBVA, and Coinbase were all hit by Sharkbot. 
  • PhonePe, Binance, Barclays, Crypto.com, Postepay, Bank of America, Capital One, Citi Mobile, and Coinbase are among the companies targeted by Teabot. 
  • BBVA and a slew of other EU-specific bank apps are among those targeted by Xenomorph. 
The method utilized by these trojans would be that they each have a small target scope and different types of functionality for diverse goals. Because these trojans are concealed among programs available on Android's official app store, users should be cautious and avoid downloading apps from untrustworthy sources. One may take it a step further by using a provider like ExpressVPN.

Cash App Company Block Suffers Data Breach, Customer Data Impacted

Cash App company Block accepts being hit by a data breach where a former employee saved reports from Cash app containing US customer information. In a Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on 4th April, Block (earlier names as Square)- told that the reports were downloaded by an insider on December 10. The employee could regularly access these files as part of his past job duties, however, in this case, these files were accessed without authorization after the competition of his job. 

"Following its discovery of the incident four months after the fact, the company has launched an internal investigation and says it is notifying the applicable regulatory authorities and law enforcement. TechCrunch sent Block additional questions regarding the scope of the incident, but the company declined to answer," reports Tech Crunch. Block didn't respond to the issue, as to why a former employee still had access to the company data, and for how long did he have access to these files after his employment ended. 

The information in these files includes the full names of the users and their brokerage account numbers. Besides this, the compromised data for a few customers include portfolio value, intraday stock trading activity, and brokerage portfolio holdings. Block, a company based in San Francisco didn't disclose how many Cash App customers were affected by the incident, however, around 8.2 Million current and former customers were impacted by the incident. According to the company, no other personal information like passwords, usernames, payment card info or addressees, or social security numbers were leaked in the report. 

The filing mentions that other Cash App services and features and customers outside the US weren't affected by the incident. "At Cash App we value customer trust and are committed to the security of customers’ information. Upon discovery, we took steps to remediate this issue and launched an investigation with the help of a leading forensics firm. We know how these reports were accessed, and we have notified law enforcement. In addition, we continue to review and strengthen administrative and technical safeguards to protect information," says Danika Owsley, spokesperson for Cash App.