After being awarded the Olympics in 2005, London, and Great Britain as whole, finally got the chance to show the world what they are about. But behind the celebration and subsequent awarding of medals, there are more sinister events playing out.
Quicker than Usain Bolt, Trend Micro found fraudulent websites that claimed to offer tickets to the opening ceremony and events were being advertised on Facebook. It turns out that the site in question was in fact a phishing website that was created to collect the personal information from innocent victims.
Japanese users are also being targeted. A website selling illegal TV cards, allowing the user to view the Olympics for free was also discovered. The site handled any payments in an unsafe way, which could pose certain risks to the user’s financial information. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) published the following list of legitimate broadcasters that hold the right to show the games.
With more than 50 spammed mails, all relating to the London 2012 Olympics revealed, it shows that cybercriminals have not been resting on their laurels. One email in particular claims that the user is an Olympic Email Lottery Winner, and is entitled to a large cash pay-out.
With the games not finishing until the 12th August, this only looks to be the beginning of the cybercriminal element’s marathon in taking advantage of the Olympics and its more unsuspecting followers.
Source: Trend Micro