personal information from Vermont state employees and other U.S. residents was sentenced . Tuesday in Rutland federal court to time served , or 14 months in jail . Osariemen Isibor , 32 , pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in March to conspiracy to commit wire fraud . Another man , Eneye Dania , 31 , also pleaded guilty in March to being part of the same conspiracy . Last week , Dania was sentenced to serve 17 months in jail . Dania has been held in jail for about 14 months . While Isibor 's prison sentence on the charge is complete and Dania 's will be soon , neither is expected to be released . Instead , both are expected to be turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement before being deported to Nigeria . According to court records , the goal of the conspiracy was “ foolingAttack.PhishingUnited States residents … into sending the logon information they used to accessAttack.Databreachtheir IRS form W-2 data from their employer 's website to another website designed to look likeAttack.Phishingtheir employer 's human resources page but actually operated by the conspiracy to collect this data ” . Once people entered their information into the fake website , the conspirators attempted to trickAttack.Phishingthe IRS into sending tax refunds to the conspirators , but prosecutors said fraud detection controls put in place by the IRS “ caused most , if not all , such fraudulent tax returns to be rejected ” .
Google has come upVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywith a fix for the phishing scamAttack.Phishingthat affected users . A Chrome browser update , which has been rolling outVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysince February , now issues a warning when you 've landed on an page with the scam . In your browser address bar , look out for `` not secure '' to the left of the address . Fortune reports that in the future , Google will present this warning and indicate unprotected sites more aggressively with a red triangle . According to Satnam Narang , Senior Security Response Manager at Norton by Symantec , here 's how the Gmail phishing scamAttack.Phishingworks : You 'll see an email in your inbox from one of your contacts who has already been hacked . The email looks like it contains an attachment . But if you look closely , as this Twitter user did , you 'll notice that the image preview for the attachment looks slightly fuzzy . This is because there is n't actually an attachment , just an image designed to look likeAttack.Phishingone . If you click on the image you 'll be directed to a page that looks like the standard Google sign-in page . If you log-in there , the damage is done : The hacker can read and downloadAttack.Databreachall of your emails and could also accessAttack.Databreachaccounts elsewhere . In the past , you might have recognized a scam by the language in the email . But Narang says that there are reports that these hackers are sendingAttack.Phishingemails that look realistic . In one school district , for example , team members received what looked likeAttack.Phishinga copy of a practice schedule . Still , there are things you can look out for to spot a fake . `` The best way to identify this attack is to look at the address bar . In this case , look for the words 'data : /text/html ' at the beginning of the URL , '' Narang says . `` If you see this , close the browser tab and alert your friend that their account has been compromisedAttack.Databreach. '' Narang also recommends setting up two-step verification for your Gmail account ( find out how to do so here ) . And follow these rules for boosting your password strength . In a statement about the attack , a Google spokesperson said , `` “ We 're aware of this issue and continue to strengthen our defenses against it . We help protect users from phishing attacksAttack.Phishingin a variety of ways , including : machine learning based detection of phishing messages , Safe Browsing warnings that notify users of dangerous links in emails and browsers , preventing suspicious account sign-ins , and more . Users can also activate two-step verification for additional account protection. ” Above all , think twice before clicking on something . We 're starting to see more sophisticated scams , so being vigilant will only help you in the long-run .
Google and Facebook have confirmed that they fell victim to an alleged $ 100m ( £77m ) scam . In March , it was reported that a Lithuanian man had been charged over an email phishing attackAttack.Phishingagainst `` two US-based internet companies '' that were not named at the time . They had allegedly been trickedAttack.Phishinginto wiring more than $ 100m to the alleged scammer 's bank accounts . On 27 April , Fortune reported that the two victims were Facebook and Google . The man accused of being behind the scam , Evaldas Rimasauskas , 48 , allegedly posed asAttack.Phishingan Asia-based manufacturer and deceivedAttack.Phishingthe companies from at least 2013 until 2015 . `` Fraudulent phishing emails were sentAttack.Phishingto employees and agents of the victim companies , which regularly conducted multimillion-dollar transactions with [ the Asian ] company , '' the US Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said in March . These emails purported to be fromAttack.Phishingemployees of the Asia-based firm , the DOJ alleged , and were sent fromAttack.Phishingemail accounts designed to look likeAttack.Phishingthey had come fromAttack.Phishingthe company , but in fact had not . The DOJ also accused Mr Rimasauskas of forgingAttack.Phishinginvoices , contracts and letters `` that falsely appearedAttack.Phishingto have been executed and signed by executives and agents of the victim companies '' . `` We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities , '' a spokeswoman for Google said in a statement . `` We recouped the funds and we 're pleased this matter is resolved . '' However , the firm did not reveal how much money it had transferred and recouped . Nor did Facebook - but a spokeswoman said : `` Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation . ''
Following the news that a Lithuanian man had been charged over an email phishing scam attackAttack.Phishingagainst `` two US-based internet companies '' whose identities were not disclosed , it has been recently confirmed that the two companies involved were actually tech giants Google and Facebook . In a report published April 27 , Fortune disclosed the identities of both companies . The companies had been trickedAttack.Phishinginto wiring over US $ 100 million to the alleged scammer ’ s bank accounts . Evaldas Rimasauskas , 48 , purportedly posed asAttack.Phishingan Asia-based manufacturer and deceivedAttack.Phishingthe two companies from at least 2013 to 2015 . `` Fraudulent phishing emails were sent toAttack.Phishingemployees and agents of the victim companies , which regularly conducted multimillion-dollar transactions with [ the Asian ] company , '' the US Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said . The DOJ alleged that emails supposedly from the employees of said Asian manufacturer were sent fromAttack.Phishingemail accounts designed to look likeAttack.Phishingthey were actually from the firm . Rimasauskas was charged by the DOJ in March of sendingAttack.Phishingthe forged emails , as well as for fabricating invoices , contracts and letters `` that falsely appearedAttack.Phishingto have been executed and signed by executives and agents of the victim companies . '' `` We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities , '' a spokesperson for Google said in a statement . `` We recouped the funds and we 're pleased this matter is resolved . '' `` Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation , '' a representative from Facebook said . The BBC reported that neither Google nor Facebook revealed how much money they had transferred , or how much they recouped following the incident . While the two companies have advanced cybersecurity measures in place , the phishing attacksAttack.Phishingtargeted individuals through their emails — attacks that could have been avoided through proper verification of dubious payment requests . `` Sometimes staff [ at large firms ] think that they are defended , that security is n't part of their job , '' James Maude of cyber-security firm Avecto told the BBC . `` But people are part of the best security you can have — that 's why you have to train them . ''
Washington University School of Medicine is committed to protecting the security and confidentiality of our patients ’ information . We regret , however , that information about some of our patients may have been accessedAttack.Databreachby an unauthorized third party due to an email “ phishing ” incident . On January 24 , 2017 , the medical school learned that some of its employees responded to a Dec 2 , 2016 , “ phishing ” email , believing it to be a legitimate request . A “ phishing ” email is designed to look likeAttack.Phishinga legitimate email but tricksAttack.Phishingthe recipient into taking some action , such as providing login credentials . Upon learning of the incident , we secured the email accounts and began an investigation . The investigation could not rule out that an unauthorized third party may have gained accessAttack.Databreachto some employees ’ email accounts . We conducted a detailed review of the employees ’ email accounts and confirmed that some of the emails contained patient information , which may have included names , birth dates , medical record numbers , diagnosis and treatment information , other clinical information , and in some instances Social Security numbers . We reported the phishing incidentAttack.Phishingto law enforcement and are cooperating with the investigation . We have no indication that the information in the emails has been misused . However , as a precaution , we began mailing letters to affected patients on March 24 , 2017 , and have established a dedicated call center to answer any questions patients may have . If you believe you may be affected and have not received a letter by April 24 , 2017 , or if you have any questions regarding this incident , please call 844-641-5630 . The call center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. central time . We regret any inconvenience this incident may have caused our patients . To help prevent such incidents in the future , we are reinforcing education with our staff and faculty of existing protocols and university resources regarding “ phishing ” emails . We also are reviewing enhancements to strengthen our business practices and user login authentication process .
Facebook users have noticed and reported a new scam making rounds on the popular network . [ 1 ] This time , it is the same old Facebook Messenger virus that compromises user accounts and acts on behalf of the victim to distribute the malicious link further . The scam uses a basic social engineering technique that luresAttack.Phishingthe potential target into clicking on the provided URL . In addition , the victim feels safe since the link comes fromAttack.Phishingone of his Facebook friends . The message usually includes a short line that looks similar to “ its you ? [ name ] : |. ” The emoji at the end of the message differs , and the provided link is shortened ; therefore the user can not figure out where it leads . However , the shortcut indicates that the link leads to a mysterious video and triggers victim ’ s curiosity to check it out . Typical strategy : Install something to watch the video Cybersecurity experts are already familiar with the technique used to trickAttack.Phishingquestioning users into installing the Facebook Message Video virus . As soon as the victim clicks the compromised link and enters the phishing website ( which apparently is designed to look likeAttack.PhishingYouTube or another popular video sharing platform ) , a misleading pop-up appearsAttack.Phishing, asking the victim to install an update or an application ( it could be a fake Adobe Flash Player or a plug-in ) . The file suggested to the user contains no software related to video streaming and simply carries the malicious payload that later compromisesAttack.Databreachvictim ’ s account and sends outAttack.Phishingthe deceptive messages to all victim ’ s contacts . Speaking of fake Adobe Flash Players , we want to inform you that these are one of the most dangerous threats to your security . One of the latest cyber attacksAttack.Phishingwas based on fake pop-ups appearing on compromised sites , urgingAttack.Phishingpeople to install an updated Flash Player . Unfortunately , launching the install_flash_player.exe file only infected the computer with Bad Rabbit ransomware .
Conmen are taking phishing scamsAttack.Phishingto the next level , targeting Apple users with emails and calls to a fake Apple Care service . While emails are a fairly common way of luringAttack.Phishingvictims , it ’ s not every day that you hear about calls being involved to dupeAttack.Phishingfolks . Ars Technica reports that the attackAttack.Phishingbegins with an email which is designed to look likeAttack.Phishingan official iCloud account warning . It claims a sign-in attempt was blocked on their account since someone tried to use their password . There ’ s a “ Check Activity ” button which opens up a page on a compromised site for a men ’ s salon in South India . The webpage immediately redirectsAttack.Phishingthe victim to another site , followed by another redirection to a fake Apple Support page asking them to contact support since their iPhone has been locked due to illegal activity . If they fall for the baitAttack.Phishing, the site launches a “ scanning ” box which eventually gives way to a pop-up box prompting the victim to call a number . If the email is opened in an iPhone , the number can be called straightaway . iPads and Macs can ’ t do the same , so the system will ask if they want to open it in FaceTime . The publication actually dialed the number and got in touch with someone who described themselves as “ Lance Roger from Apple Care. ” It seems the elaborate scheme is targeting email addresses associated with iCloud . The end game is to trickAttack.PhishingiPhone users into enrolling in a rogue mobile device management service . This allows the attackers to push infected apps onto the victim ’ s device , all the while pretendingAttack.Phishingthis is a part of Apple ’ s security service . The phishing site is still live right now , but both Google and Apple have marked it as deceptive . Ars Technica has additionally passed on the technical details of the scam to an Apple security team member . The company told Engadget that it has resources on its support website to help people tell right from wrong . Everyday iOS users could still easily get fooled though .