Cybercrimes in the Venezuelan financial system continue to increase, as warned by the country’s Banking Association, highlighting identity theft and phishing as the most common methods.

Digital fraud cases are being carried out against corporations, SMEs, and individuals in increasingly sophisticated ways. In this regard, the ABV emphasizes “the need to strengthen a culture of prevention among users and companies.” The warning is based on a study conducted in October 2025 among private banks in the country, which concludes that phishing and identity theft remain the most frequent criminal activities.

On the other hand, the association details that banking institutions remain the primary target of cybercriminals, who “send fake links via email, social media, or search engines, mimicking the official websites of financial institutions.”

The ABV calls for the implementation of strong security measures leading up to 2026, when, according to its estimates, AI will be the main tool hackers use to commit their digital crimes.

M.Pino

With information from finanzasdigital.com

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La entrada Venezuelan Banking Association warns of increased digital fraud apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Phishing is one of the cyberattack techniques that, along with ransomware, affects thousands of victims around the world. Internet criminals recruit users by impersonating regular sources of information such as banks, government agencies, stores, among others.

People receive messages that appear to be genuine, sent from the real source, usually taking advantage of key dates and events of personal interest to sneak in real offers.

When the user opens these malicious messages or links, cyberattackers enter the system and steal their personal data, bank passwords, bank card numbers.

Among the common recommendations of companies specializing in security and data protection is, firstly, to distrust any email or message that is too provocative, with offers that are apparently impossible to ignore.

In this sense, the first thing would be not to open messages from unknown sources or those that generate suspicion. And even less to download attached files or click on addresses recommended by the message.

On the other hand, keep the passwords of all social networks, banks, cryptocurrency wallets, email, and employment platforms well stored. It is important not to share them electronically and to remember the message from official bodies that they will never request user data through this means.

Stay alert to offers that are too good and be suspicious of any link that could allow a phishing attack.

The use of strong passwords and the periodic updating of programs and applications is another of the valuable recommendations of cybersecurity specialists to keep your personal data and assets away from the clutches of web hackers.

M.Pino

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La entrada Cyberattacks through phishing continue to increase apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The migration of thousands of users from X has led the social network Bluesky to update the authentication rules of original accounts and thus avoid identity theft and provide protection before parody accounts, satire accounts and fan accounts.

The migration from the old Twitter began a few weeks ago, so Bluesky, created by Jack Dorsey, has decided to deepen the protection measures against many “people who try to register fake accounts on the platform.”

In this sense, the update will be more aggressive. Accounts that engage in impersonation and user name occupation will be deleted. Measures will also be applied so that users of the platform can configure their name appropriately.

Regarding parody or satire accounts and fan accounts, Bluesky has indicated that they must be clearly labeled, otherwise they could be deleted once the moderators apply the “impersonation” label to them.

M.Pino

Source: computerhoy

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La entrada Bluesky will update rules to protect the authenticity of accounts apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The cybersecurity company ESET has analyzed the distribution method of infostealer-type malware by hacking the accounts of content creators on YouTube.

The modality is not new, but it does cause damage to the affected YouTubers. By sending phishing emails, attackers have access to victims’ accounts. “Cyberattackers send an email in which they tempt the content creator with some type of agreement – they propose to sponsor or promote the account – and attach a supposed DropBox file with details of the commercial conditions.”

The file they send is the one that will spread the infostealer-type malware, through which they will obtain the access credentials of the target account (and even 2FA, two-factor authentication).

According to experts, this infostealer “includes a script that will delete the cookies from the computer and force the user to enter the account login credentials again, and at that moment it will send the information to the cyberattacker.”

When they obtain the access keys, they distribute the virus, usually sharing content other than that of the original account and deleting all old material.

Among the consequences for those affected is the possibility of the channel closing, or the demonetization of its videos, up to the loss of followers.

It is important to highlight that digital criminals also have a preference for YouTube channels that promote pirated video games. To carry out the attack, “they post links in the descriptions of the videos that actually take victims to sites that distribute infostealer-type malware.”

Regarding measures to protect yourself in the event of an account hack, the Google support team suggests as a first measure “recover the hacked Google account associated with the YouTube channel and update the password and activate two-factor authentication.”

Secondly, “revert any unwanted changes that the malicious actor may have made to the YouTube channel in order to avoid violations of copyright or Community Guidelines. In cases where the channel has been closed post-hack, once the Google account has been recovered, you can appeal the closure of a channel.”

The technology company makes available to those who are part of the YouTube Partner Program, an assistance team especially for the YouTube creator segment.

M.Pino

Source: descifrado

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La entrada YouTube accounts of content creators stolen to distribute malware apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Facebook, YouTube and Instagram have become platforms that literally catapulted certain people to stardom, granting them the accolade or recognition of “Influencers.” The number of followers they garner and the money that moves around them is such that cybercriminals have focused their sights on them, implementing strategies and deceptions that allow them to obtain their own financial gain. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, warns that it analyzes the most frequent tactics used by cyberattackers to access money and how influencers can be better protected.

The global influencer marketing market, which in 2022 was valued at $33.2 billion, will continue to grow exponentially. In fact, it is expected that by 2032 it will reach 200 billion dollars. In turn, according to the HubSpot site, there are several categories of influencers depending on the number of followers and depending on this (among other factors) “a nano influencer earns between 10 and 100 USD, a micro between 100 and 500 USD, and a macro between 5000 and 10,000 USD per publication.” These figures served as bait for cybercriminals to begin looking for (and implementing) strategies to obtain financial gain. In practice, they were tempted and motivated to do so.

Social engineering is one of the favorite tools of cyberattackers to harm influencers, who often do not have the resources or knowledge with which companies usually protect themselves.

ESET shares some examples of related scams, thefts and deceptions

The Fake Podcast: Hannah Shaw is popularly known on social media as the “Cat Lady”; His pseudonym is due to the fact that in his videos he teaches people what proper care for newborn cats is. Thanks to his followers (more than one million), he raised significant amounts to help rescue these animals and shelters. Seeing Shaw’s popularity as a source of financial gain and thanks to a social engineering technique, cybercriminals managed to take over his Meta business account.

They did this by pretending to be hosts of a podcast. In advance and to coordinate the details of the interview, the malicious actors invited the victim to a Zoom call. There, they asked Shaw for access to the Facebook Live settings with the excuse of generating income and she agreed, thinking it was a normal part of the process. At that time, the cyber attackers took control of the account as Administrator, leaving the page clean to replace them with fake links that actually directed to sites to generate quick and easy income with advertising.

Ambassadors, but of the scam: The “Finfluencers” are a subgroup of influencers dedicated especially to the finance industry. In their accounts, they provide economic advice, advice and tips to their large number of followers so that they can get rich quickly, invest in stocks or cryptocurrencies and implement financial planning. In this case, cybercriminals (and also using social engineering to achieve their goal), offered a false job opportunity for finfluencers to become ambassadors of a brand and promote the brand’s products.

The truth is that the final objective of the attackers was to obtain the personal and financial information of their victims. With the excuse of needing this data to make payment for the supposed work, what they did once they obtained that information was to empty their bank accounts until they took control of their social networks.

Malware always present: Other influencers have been attacked with malware, either by downloading a malicious file or clicking on an apocryphal link. Thus, cyberattackers can very easily take control of accounts and manage them. They achieve this by publishing content that has nothing to do with what the influencer normally shares, deleting all the content that was available, and even changing the logo and name of the accounts. It is also common for malicious actors to ask for exorbitant sums of money so that the victim can recover their social networks.

Identity theft with suspension included: Another technique that became known through complaints and investigation, specifically on Instagram, consists of cyberattackers duplicating the influencer’s original account and requesting its suspension. To do this, they either acquire a verified account, change the user’s biography and image, and then file a report alleging that the victim is actually impersonating them. Another option is to carry out a “spam attack” against the account, reporting it, either for showing nudity images or violating copyright. When the attacker manages to have the account suspended, he contacts the victim to offer to unlock the account as long as he pays an amount of money for said ransom.

Followers, also in the crosshairs: Identity theft is another of the techniques used in the field of social networks, but in this case the victims are the followers. It is normal for influencers to launch giveaways, which generate a high level of interaction. This is where cybercriminals come into play, creating a duplicate account that pretends to be the original, and from there contacts users informing them that they have been winners of a raffle. The goal is to access the personal and financial information of their victims.

Influencers can protect themselves by taking actions to avoid being another victim of the deceptions of cyberattackers

ESET shares some good practices to keep in mind:

• Be distrustful as a first measure, if a job offer or business possibility seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Do not provide personal or financial information without confirming that there is a real and true possibility on the other side. Good research is your best ally, as is contacting the company to confirm the offer.
• Do not let any person, company or application post on your social networks.
• Use unique, strong, long and secure passwords (with capital letters, special characters and numbers) on all accounts, and change them periodically.
• Pay attention and analyze carefully and carefully before clicking on any link that arrives unexpectedly.
• Lastly and always very important, have a security solution that provides comprehensive protection while consuming fewer resources.

In summary, ESET recommends, for everything mentioned above, that it is necessary to adopt good security practices, pay attention to signs that an offer may be a scam, and inform yourself about the methodologies that cybercriminals use to perpetrate their attacks. As well as listening to Conexión Segura, your podcast with timely verified information to know what is happening in the world of computer security, at: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Q32tisjNy7eCYwUNHphcw.

With information and image provided by ESET Latin America and Comstat Rowland Comprehensive Strategic Communications

(Reference image: ESET Latin America and Comstat Rowland)

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La entrada Influencers under cyberattack: Ways to protect themselves and good practices to consider apareció primero en Bitfinance.

It seems that scammers have been quick to take advantage of the launch of Meta’s new microblogging app, and several influential users in the Twitter crypto community have already warned about the existence of fake accounts on Threads.

Threads was launched on July 5 and in the days since it has registered more than 98 million users, although it is still far from reaching 450 million Twitter users.

However, in recent days, several personalities in the crypto community on Twitter have pointed out the presence of fake accounts on Threads, which impersonate themselves or other prominent users.

On July 8, decentralized finance platform Wombex Finance posted an image of an account on Threads posing as them, warning that it could be a scam as their project was not present on the platform.

Non-fungible token (NFT) influencer Leonidas posted a similar warning a day earlier to his 93,000 followers, mentioning that he and other “notable NFT accounts” were being impersonated by scammers on Threads. Leonidas claimed to have created a Threads account to confront impostors.

Jeffrey Huang, known on Twitter as Machi Big Brother, posted a Threads profile of him on July 6, with one user pointing out that there was already a fake Threads account posing as him.

So far, the above Threads accounts have avoided sharing scam or phishing links, and mostly post cryptocurrency-related content.

K. Tovar

Source: Cointelegraph

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La entrada Scammers take advantage of Threads to impersonate influential users apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Cybercriminals created a campaign of phishing scams in which they impersonate well-known personalities and the media, by sending emails with false cryptocurrency news, with which they obtain the victim’s personal information.

This is stated by the Internet User Security Office (OSI) and the cybersecurity company Panda, who registered cases of this campaign through the impersonation of various online newspapers such as El País, ABC and El Mundo.

Scammers send emails under the name of one of those newspapers, which include fake testimonials from famous people and online reputations to report “great investment opportunities in the crypto market.”

Cybercriminals take advantage of the fact that many users subscribe to various digital media outlets and regularly read their newsletters to facilitate deception. In this way, they use emails that appear to be legitimate and come from a known address.

As Panda explains through a statement, scammers use cryptocurrencies as a hook, since more and more people are looking to invest in this digital asset. In this case, the tactic used for the phishing attack starts with sending emails from well-known newspapers with links to fake news.

Source: dpa

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La entrada Fake cryptocurrency news spread through newspaper identity theft apareció primero en Bitfinance.

A joint international action by judicial and police authorities from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia has dismantled a website that offered identity theft services to commit fraud worth 115 million euros.

The website offered payment services for making calls and sending pre-recorded messages anonymously and for intercepting single-use keys for confirmation of digital services, posing as banking, commercial or government entities.

This type of scam seeks to gain the trust of the potential victims by presenting himself to her as a well-known brand or company, in order to obtain their money.

Global losses are estimated at 115 million euros, as reported by Europol in a press release. Likewise, and in just 16 months of activity, the website has earned 3.7 million euros.

The joint operation between police and judicial authorities from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia has led to the closure of the website and the arrest of 142 users and administrators from around the world.

The investigation was launched at Eurojust at the request of the British authorities. The president of this body, Ladislav Hamran, has stated that “since cybercrime knows no borders, effective judicial cooperation between jurisdictions is key to bringing perpetrators to court.”

For her part, the executive director of Europol, Catherine De Bolle, has pointed out that the arrests made “send a message to cybercriminals that they can no longer hide behind perceived international anonymity.”

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Source: dpa

La entrada Dismantle identity theft website to commit scams apareció primero en Bitfinance.

As smartphones are increasingly required for all daily activities, cybercriminals are finding new methods to deceive their victims, which are becoming more sophisticated and complex over time.

One of them is called SIM ‘swapping’, a fraud through which cybercriminals try to fraudulently duplicate the SIM card of a user’s device, as mentioned by the Internet Security Office (OSI).

First, the attacker impersonates your identity to get a duplicate of your card. To do this, they contact the telephone operator of the card by phone and provide the victim’s personal information, such as their name and ID number.

Cybercriminals may have collected this data through other social engineering attacks (such as SMS fraud, ‘phishing’ or identity theft from the companies themselves), as well as by digging through your social networks.

Another way of accessing sensitive information of victims is through downloading fraudulent applications on their devices, or after connecting to free or fake Wi-Fi networks.

Once all the data has been collected and the call has been made to the company’s operator, the fraudsters can request a duplicate SIM card. In this way, a new card is created, and the one held by the legal user is invalidated.

Subsequently, the victim is left without telephone service, so that the mobile device will not be able to identify the SIM card, the coverage will not be reflected, nor will it allow the receipt or sending of SMS.

Cybercriminals, on the other hand, will be able to access your personal information and take control of your applications, impersonating your identity on social networks, email accounts or digital banking.

In this way, you can carry out bank transactions as you please since you also control the notifications that these services usually offer to confirm the sending and receipt of money transfers, among other actions.

How to avoid being victim of swapping

Because it is a very common scam and, at the same time, complex to stop, OSI recommends taking a series of measures to avoid being victims of this increasingly widespread fraud.

The first of these is to establish contact with the telephone company in the event of having lost coverage for no apparent reason, such as portability to another operator. In addition, it is convenient to establish two-step authentication, as an additional measure.

To do this, applications intended for your security protection, such as Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator, can be used and downloaded as alternative two-factor methods.

Likewise, it is advisable to update the account recovery options, in case the cybercriminals have managed to access other personal accounts to collect the necessary information to proceed with the ‘swapping’.

Special attention should also be paid to the information that is provided through social networks or public channels, as well as the Privacy Settings options of these platforms.

Finally, it is recommended to exclusively download applications from official stores such as Google Play or the Apple Store, as well as update the access credentials periodically.

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Source: dpa

La entrada Cases of swapping through smartphones increase apareció primero en Bitfinance.

74% of users are concerned about the possibility of digital identity theft, especially given the increased digitization triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and the increased amount of data and personal information they share from it.

Cyber ​​threats have become one of the biggest headaches among consumers, according to the study ID Theft SOS: How to win customer preference and loyalty with ID protection, prepared by the company specialized in loyalty programs, Tenerity. Although focused on the US market, it highlights trends that can be extrapolated to other countries or regions.

The study states that 74% of users admit to being worried about the expectation of suffering a digital identity theft, of which 39% are quite worried and 35% very much. This situation has been aggravated by the pandemic with the corresponding increase in digitization.

Consumers are aware of cybercrime, with seven in ten users more concerned about being victims of identity theft than other forms of crime.

The main types of identity theft known to users are the extraction of personal information (91%), fraudulent credit or debit card charges (85%), identity theft and social media accounts (75%) or applications for loans or credits (73%).

67% of respondents acknowledge that their identities can be stolen by someone they know. Another 76% believe that these types of thieves do not have to exclusively target wealthy people. In addition, 77% maintain that children are at risk of suffering this type of crime.

Source: dpa

La entrada Digital Identity Theft, concern for users apareció primero en Bitfinance.