Cybersecurity researchers cautioned on Friday that phishing sites based on the new film ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ are being used to deceive people and steal their bank details.
Fraudsters increased their activities ahead of the film’s opening, according to Kaspersky researchers, who discovered multiple examples of phishing websites set up to steal viewers’ bank details.
People were requested to register and enter their credit card information in order to watch the new superhero film ahead of its premiere.
After that process, money was deducted from their card and payment information was stolen by cybercriminals, but there was no way to see the movie ahead of launch time.
Cybersecurity researchers said, “With the excitement surrounding the release of the newest Spider-Man film, the inattention of thrilled viewers is being abused by cybercriminals. The premiere of ‘No Way Home’ is no exception but an attractive lure to spread threats and phishing pages,”
Superhero films have always picked up the interest of fans, so that their trailers are scrutinised in particular.
The report noted “There are tonnes of speculation and rumours floating around the Internet regarding ‘No Way Home’. For example, reports are running rampant that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are both returning as Spider-Man from their respective films,”
Fans have already created their own theories, despite the fact that there is no real evidence that they will.
“To boost interest in the phishing pages, fraudsters do not use official posters from the film, but rather fan art featuring all the Spider-Man actors. With such posters, cybercriminals want to attract more attention from fans,” the report noted.
The majority of the cases analysed by Kaspersky researchers revealed movie downloaders with the ability to install other unwanted programmes, and other malware such as Adware and Trojans.
Tatyana Shcherbakova, Security Expert at Kaspersky, said “We encourage users to be alert to the pages they visit and not download files from unverified sites,” adding that avoid links promising early viewings of films or TV series.